SHELL
20 chain , and specifically in demand-driven planning , we do not use the forecast to drive our transactions . Instead , we set up a buffer , where we wait until we have actual demand , and then make a decision based on this demand .” Deciding to take a very different approach to that of Shell ’ s implementation of SAP in the mid-2000s , Lynch said that he wanted to see how the business would benefit in the face of ongoing cost pressures regularly seen in the oil and gas industry .
However , in today ’ s supply chain climate , big changes programmes like this require very solid and credible business cases . Lynch required leadership and financial backing , and strenuously looked at ways to harness available data and support the required results .
“ We had to be absolutely clear on the business case and ran simulations around how demand-driven planning would work in a lubricant supply chain . There are very few industries doing this . Nobody ’ s tackled it globally yet , so I think Shell Lubricants is the first global supply chain to adopt this methodology in its entirety ,” he noted .
AUGUST 2019