Business need
Reengineering the supply chain
With the opening of Bialetti stores, the company complemented its industrial activities by entering retail. This had a significant impact on supply chain dynamics and paved the way for a completely different approach to planning and logistics.
Demand analysis and forecasting, as well as sales planning, needed to make a qualitative leap within an effective and structured data-collection system — in short, they had to become best practice. This marked the beginning of the collaboration between Bialetti and NTT DATA, which led to some of the main initiatives being implemented that radically innovated supply chain management in recent years.
NTT DATA began working with Bialetti in 2011, originally just to support this transformation. The first structured long-term demand forecasting system for industrial production was developed as a result. By doing this, NTT DATA established the process and organizational conditions required for implementing a true sales and operations planning (S&OP) process.
“When I joined Bialetti in 2017, there was not yet an S&OP process,” says Silvia Baselli, Demand and Supply Planning Manager of the Bialetti Group. “To implement it, we decided to continue along the path started by NTT DATA, creating a Demand and Supply Planning team within the company and involving all relevant functions and stakeholders to develop a new forecasting system tailored to Bialetti’s needs.”
Furthermore, the decision to focus the group’s business on the coffee sector — as opposed to the previous multicategory strategy — represented a further evolution in sales dynamics. The collaboration with NTT DATA evolved to meet a clear objective: Design, implement and continuously develop the forecasting and planning system based on new process and system criteria.
The main needs were to keep the purchasing cycle under control, have reliable purchase estimates and predict any possible impact on inventory; in parallel Bialetti needed to constantly increase planning accuracy.
From 2017 to 2024, the accuracy of our forecasts has more than doubled. The company’s goal of building an effective demand-planning department has produced great results over time.”
Solution
Rebuilding demand and supply planning based on new criteria
NTT DATA provided consultancy to implement forecasting optimization initiatives for the entire Bialetti ecosystem, including retail stores. Criteria were set for demand forecasting with increasingly detailed analysis, store classification and identifying consumers’ unique purchasing behaviors to standardize sales forecasts for each store and thus improve forecast accuracy.
Built on statistical foundations, the process began to deliver results, encouraging the company to invest in expanding and innovating the system. As a result, this became a continuous activity, which over the years has generated a series of projects to consolidate and refine Bialetti’s new approach to forecasting.
Following the initial demand forecasting work, new projects were launched in which NTT DATA supported Bialetti in the continuous improvement of performance. “One of the strategic tools in this process has been DPIC, a statistical database shared by NTT DATA’s clients and used anonymously as a market benchmark that allows us to identify new areas for improvement by comparing ourselves with companies operating in contexts very similar to ours,” says Silvia Baselli.
Demand Planning Intelligence Consortium (DPIC) is an NTT DATA tool that collects data (both forecasts and historical series) from more than 170 member companies that represent over $100 billion in revenue. It uses a proprietary classification engine that detects demand behavior across multiple dimensions, such as variability and seasonality, to offer a more accurate picture of volatility and the factors determining demand predictability.
“The use of DPIC has enabled us to produce, year after year, a dynamic snapshot of Bialetti’s forecast accuracy compared with market standards,” says Fabrizio Carle, Managing Director | Technology Consulting at NTT DATA. “One the one hand, this has helped us to identify the milestones needed to achieve satisfactory performance. On the other, to clearly communicate to Bialetti’s management the necessity, effectiveness and advantages of the initiatives undertaken.”
The use of a powerful data visualization system has made it possible to present data in the form of easily understandable infographics, starting from complex KPIs. The system produces intuitive documents that make it easy to engage the most senior corporate levels on the topics under discussion. Unlike standard business intelligence reports, the documents provided by the system are based on forecast data and therefore provide visibility over the coming months — an asset that is important for finance and for supply chain management.
We put our expertise and experience in corporate supply chains at Bialetti’s service, and in turn, Bialetti took a very pragmatic and results-oriented approach. This synergy enabled us to satisfy shareholders and create an exciting and positive environment.”
Outcomes
Forecast accuracy confirmed by the figures
Thanks to the projects implemented, the statistical algorithms and the sophisticated demand segmentations, performance has improved year on year, positioning Bialetti among the top levels for forecast accuracy.
The figures clearly validate this success: In just a few years, Bialetti’s forecasting accuracy has reached nearly 70%, a significant increase compared to the past, with important benefits for inventory, purchasing and production management. The customer fill rate has improved by 6% over the last three years, showing a strong upward trend in the company’s ability to fulfill orders and provide a higher quality of customer service. In the same period, there was a 24% reduction in finished goods stored at the Coccaglio warehouse, a sign of greater logistical efficiency.
“Working with a partner who has learned to understand the company’s most complex dynamics has certainly been a key strength,” says Silvia Baselli. “NTT DATA has provided us with valuable end-to-end support: from the ideation and development of innovative projects, to process adaptation and the necessary technical interventions.”
The results achieved so far represent a solid foundation for planning new projects for the future in the pursuit of continuous innovation.
A collaboration focused on the future
One of the next steps should involve a project to centralize the warehouse governance of the five foreign subsidiaries, which will allow for the centralized control of supply flows and warehouse movements, wherever they are located in the world. The plan includes both the technical implementation of a new module for Bialetti Industria and a full process review of roles and shared guidelines between headquarters and subsidiaries.
NTT DATA supports these transformation objectives through the definition of periodic roadmaps that outline a path for aligning the organization and systems with technological evolution and new business challenges. This includes ongoing support for processes and KPIs, the development of projects to continuously improve performance and, finally, the proposal of new ideas to bring innovation to the company, such as introducing AI tools to enhance analysis and forecasting.
“NTT DATA provides us with ongoing support in strategy development, maintenance, new project initiatives and innovation. It is a highly structured and well-established partnership that has certainly produced great results over time,” concludes Silvia Baselli.