Nutricia Worldwide (NWW) is part of Danone and coordinates global exports of specialised nutrition products. To deliver reliably to distributors around the world, NWW depends on accurate and timely weekly shipment planning, supported by data from nine international factories and multiple internal systems.
Challenge
NWW’s weekly shipment planning process involved extensive manual data processing across factory files, SOIP data, and order information. Because each factory used its own structure and formatting, standardising inputs proved difficult, leading to a high workload for the Planning Team and limited time for value-adding tasks. NWW sought a solution that could work with diverse input structures while improving efficiency and transparency in the planning process.
Solution and deliverables
4Supplychain supported NWW by developing a tailored automation solution that streamlines the weekly shipment planning process and brings multiple factory inputs together into one structured planning environment:
- Consolidation of data from all factory sources into a central, consistent planning view
- Integration of order, production, stock and readiness information into a unified overview to support weekly shipment decisions
- Development of a logic to highlight planning focus points and assist planners in identifying required actions
- Inclusion of consistency checks to help users detect missing, inconsistent or unexpected inputs across different data structures
- Enablement of functionality that supports communication back to factories and provides visibility into upcoming shipment needs
The automation significantly reduced manual processing time and introduced a structured, repeatable workflow for weekly shipment planning. Planners now rely on a centralised and reliable dataset that brings factory inputs, order information and planning logic together, enabling them to focus on decision-making and coordination rather than data preparation.
