C U S TO M E R C A S E S T U DY

Packaging innovationsdelivered efficiently – HowNovolex® transformed its
supply chain processes

Key objectives
y Data harmonizationy Agile scenario planningy Rapid time to value

Headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina, Novolex® makes
flexible packaging for the food service and grocery industries. Its
products include plastic and paper bags, wraps, clamshells, andIndustry:
Packagingplastic cutlery. Its customer portfolio includes most major quick

Geographies:
Canada, Europe, Mexico,and the United States

The packaging company has 10 business brands. Although mostEmployees:
10,000+Novolex was founded in 2012 with Hilex®, its plastic retail bag brand.

Results:y Inventory days on hand reduced by
8 percent, reducing costs associatedwith holding inventory

service and traditional dine-in and carry-out restaurants.

of its 55 manufacturing facilities are in the United States, it also
operates facilities in Canada, Mexico, and Europe.

Over the next decade, the company grew through 12 acquisitions. As
a result, Novolex found itself with the added complexity of multiple
different Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

A Critical Need for Supply Chain Planningy Additional supply sources are identified
early and prequalified, speeding theprocess and reducing risk

With multiple different ERP systems across its business unitsy Improved production efficiency
controls cost

but the lack of harmonized data and the use of manual planning withy More reliable production dates allow
the company to recognize revenue
soonerthe entire company on one ERP system was a possible solution, theand factories, Novolex struggled with supply chain planning. Thecompany wanted to be able to leverage its global purchasing power,
spreadsheets made that extremely difficult. Although standardizing
company couldn’t wait to streamline its supply chain planning.

Its team of planners were relying on spreadsheets andhomegrown tools to assess the impact of market changes on
production needs, and political and economic headwinds such as
new plastic waste regulations, tariffs, and overseas competition
further exacerbated those challenges.
“We needed a solution to be able to plan effectively acrossmultiple ERP systems without having to do a full-blown ERP
implementation,” said Scott Lillian, Director of Supply Chain
Systems & Master Data.
Novolex couldn’t delay making improvements to its supply
chain planning any longer. The company began looking for asolution that could extract data from its multiple ERP systems
and create more accurate supply plans to source manufacturingmaterials. Novolex chose Kinaxis Planning OneTM because of its
ability to harmonize data across demand, supply, inventory, andoperational planning.

Our future goalis that Kinaxis
becomes ouroperational
standard.
—SCOTT LILLIAN,
DIRECTOR, SUPPLY CHAIN SYSTEMS& MASTER DATA

Novolex went live in just 12 weeks in eight facilities within its
Duro® business unit, which makes restaurant-carryout, shopping,and lunch bags as well as paper sacks. “It was the one business
unit that had the most need because we didn’t have a good supply
planning process there,” said Lillian.
It selected that unit for the initial rollout because it had a knowledgeable S&OP team onsite, and its
manufacturing process was less complex than other plants. “It was a quick path because all the machines
were basically single step, meaning they had a roll of paper that gets converted into a bag,” said Lillian.
Because of Kinaxis’ seamless connection to an ERP system, it can extract the necessary business data forlong-term and weekly planning. Master schedulers now take all the planned orders for the next four to six
weeks and firm up the supply requirements using Kinaxis.

Key Benefits
Although Novolex has so far only rolled out at some of its
plants, the packaging company has already seen payback in its
investment. By closely monitoring inventory quality ratios, thecompany was able to collaborate to achieve a 8% reduction indays-of-on-hand inventory supply. This coupled with improved
factory efficiency has helped Novolex stay on track to hit its
revenue targets.

8%
reduction indays-of-on-handinventory

To read more stories, visit www.kinaxis.com/customers.

Kinaxis is a global leader in modern supply chain management. Our software is trusted by global brands in every industry to provide the agility and predictability needed tonavigate today’s volatility and disruption.
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