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

Key Objectives:y Avoid duplication ofsoftware development work

How modern furnituremaker Castlery refurnishedits supply chainy A future-proof solution forbusiness growthy Meet customer expectations
for high product availabilityy Rapid time to value (TTV),
short-term and long-term
positive ROI
y Scenario and concurrent
planning capability
y Maintain healthy inventory
levels globallyIndustry:Business expansion means
greater supply chain complexity.

Furniture retail and manufacturing

Founded in 2013 in Singapore, Castlery is a ‘digital first’Geographies:

lifestyle company that manufactures and distributes

Singapore, Australia, United States

contemporary home furniture. Its business model

Employees:

focuses on providing high quality products for every

300+

personal style that can be purchased through aChallenges:

simplified process for better prices.

yLong lead times from global supply chainyProduct catalogue complexity

As the brand and revenue grew, so did its footprint. Castlery expandedyLack of unified visibility into demandand supply

into Australia in 2017 and then, in 2019, it entered the United StatesyLack of concurrent scenario planningy

No dedicated planning teamas an ecommerce retailer. Today, the U.S. and Australian markets
represent more than half of the company’s business. However, withmarket expansion came the requirement for a multi-echelon warehouse

Results:

market to support the business, and supply visibility became a significantyOne plan to centrally manage
decision making

challenge. Castlery now had to deal with long lead times for productsySystem driven processesyWider visibility across internal andexternal stakeholdersyEase of testing and simulation

quickly to shifts in customer demand nor keep its suppliers updated ony

Quicker responses to market changes

accurate future material needs. It found itself challenged to maintainyEasier configurations for new markets

the same service level with the same amount of inventory.

manufactured in Asia to the United States in particular.
Longer supply lead times meant the furniture maker couldn’t respondInventory management and procurement was further complicatedby the fact that a small operational team was trying to do thesupply chain planning along with other work assignments. For
product forecasting, the team was using Excel spreadsheets andPython scripts. Those tools made supply chain planning sequential
and opaque. Because Castlery made frequent upgrades andWe did not selectchanges to its product line, the furniture maker also found it

Kinaxis and mSE

difficult to use those tools to quickly evaluate supply options or do

Solutions solely for

scenario planning. The operational team also found it problematic
to monitor plan performance as well as analyze alternative courses

their supply chain

to procure supply and maintain the right mix and amount oftechnology andinventory. In summary, Castlery needed to shift from a capability
light, highly customized process to a much more advanced andfuture proof planning system.

consulting expertise,
we also value being
able to partner with

Enhanced Supply Chain Visibilityand Scenario Planning
Castlery began the search for an advanced planning solution(APS); seeking a market leader that would suit their current sizeof business yet be scalable for the future, with proven success inconcurrent and scenario planning in their industry. Through anexisting, strong relationship with mSE Solutions, (a Kinaxis Valuepeople who arecollaborative, visionary,and put people first.
—SHIMIN GU,
HEAD OF SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGYAND INTELLIGENCE

Added Reseller (VAR) global partner), Castlery were recommended
Kinaxis as a best-practice technology solution, amongst five othersupply chain planning solutions. Castlery’s selection process
was well thought through – beyond the technical abilities of an APS they wanted to work with a reputablevendor that could offer a future proof solution that could be live quickly and does not require significant
customization; no need to reinvent the wheel.
From the 6 shortlisted vendors, Kinaxis ranked highest in 8/10 of the technical requirements; was wellfeatured “out of the box” negating the need for customization and with an implementation partner in mSE
Solutions well experienced in implementation of Kinaxis globally enhanced by in region presence.
Castlery selected Kinaxis as its end-to-end supply chain solution for planning, forecast collaboration, andvisibility for improved market responsiveness. With highly experienced and capable teams from Castlery, mSE
Solutions and Kinaxis the deployment took just four months. Planning One™ is specifically tailored for small andmid-sized companies to deliver results (ROI/TTV) in an accelerated timeline.

With Kinaxis, Castlery can plan for new factory orders and oceanshipments. Kinaxis extracts and cleans data from Castlery’s Oracle
ERP system for developing production plans, managing inventory,
and evaluating possible supply alternatives. The furniture makeruses Kinaxis for all scenario planning to determine replenishment
windows and make alternative supply arrangements in the eventof a plant shutdown. It uses scenario planning to better determine
short- and long-term warehouse space needs.

Kinaxis Planning One™ also helps Castlery with:y Consensus demand planning for new products or succession
planning across all teamsy Warehouse replenishment plan reviews
y Control over inventory allocation and repositioningy Integrating supply chain plans with financial planning

What did we do differently
to make Castlery successful?
y Stakeholders onboard, mandated support from C-levely mSE Solutions had the right expertise and Castlery had the rightpeople with the right skills in placey Efficient change managementy Planners/Users engaged in implementation, negate needfor extensive UAT
y Extensive KLC usage
y Clear vision for the futurey Clear directions from all sides
y Local language consultant ability

Why were we successful?
y Planning One™ simplicity, standardsy Scalability
y mSE Solutions’ strengthy Concurrent planning best in classy Self-configuration ability in futureAfter one year, the furniture retailer now has:y Gained one supply chain plan that provides wider visibility to allinternal and external stakeholders
y Established a dedicated planning team, focusing on making criticaldecisions and understanding the impact rather than trying to findCombining thewhich decisions are critical. “Life’s better with Kinaxis”.

capabilities of Kinaxis

y Enabled system driven processes that provide for digitaland mSE Solutions

documentation and easy information sharingy Powered the simulation of supply chain planning scenarios,
shared across the businessy Optimized the alignment of global inventory to sales, thus
reducing customer lead time by 2 days with more than 20%
faster inventory turnoverproved to be a winningsolution; we saw
positive results very
quickly.
—SHIMIN GU,
HEAD OF SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGYAND INTELLIGENCE

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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