Personal care factory case study

The source material describes Europe’s largest personal care factory moving away from MRP-based planning across inbound, in-house bottle blowing, and finished goods. The operation needed better schedule stability, shorter lead times, lower inventory, and a simpler planning structure.

O8 Software was introduced first in selected areas and then expanded across the remaining factory cells. The planning model was redesigned to cover both internal and external items, supporting replenishment-driven execution rather than unstable MRP behavior.

Inbound inventory turns doubled. Schedule stability improved from 60% to 95%. Bottle-blowing lead time was reduced from 6 weeks to just 1 week. Finished goods stock fell by 30% in the first 6 months and 20% overall. End-to-end lead time dropped from 12 weeks to 4 weeks. Internal service level improved to 98.9%. Obsolescence was cut by 50% and planning headcount reduced by 40%.

The transformation enabled the site to win additional third-party manufacturing business, including recognition as P&G Manufacturing Partner of the Year 2008.