Supply chain management in disinfectant production under pandemic conditions

Rollercoaster ride or success story? The data situation decides

Things always seem to happen when you least expect them: this principle (almost) always applies in procurement and production planning. In the past, however, it has applied particularly frequently and intensively. The pandemic was largely, but not exclusively, responsible for this. In the meantime, there was hardly anything that was not missing: microchips, containers, chemicals, packaging materials, etc. In addition to the automotive industry, companies with high demand due to the coronavirus were hit particularly hard. Tests, masks and disinfectants come to mind here. At ifm SUCCESS DAYS 2023, Ulrike Rehders, Head of Site Supply Chain Management at the leading German disinfectant manufacturer Schülke & Mayr, gave an insight into how demand, the supply chain and, in some cases, restrictions were managed in this system-relevant field.

By: Gerald Scheffels for ifm

Practiced practice: planning from experience

Despite the extremely broad product range of disinfectants, antiseptics and skin care products, supply chain management at Schülke & Mayr was easy to plan in the pre-coronavirus era. "Planning was largely based on Excel lists, which allowed us to plan one or two days in advance – and on the expert knowledge of those responsible. We did well with that," says Ulrike Rehders. "The fact that we still opted for IT-supported planning with the GIB Suite planning module from ifm was perhaps not absolutely necessary at the time, but quickly proved to be very lucky."

Pandemic demands maximum flexibility

Firstly, IT-supported planning was urgently needed and secondly, it was immediately put to great use because the production of disinfectants under pandemic conditions posed very special challenges. The rapidly increasing demand led to extreme capacity utilisation of the production facilities and at the same time to a lack of or significantly more expensive access to important raw materials. There was also a lack of packaging materials, especially bottles. Sharp price fluctuations were the order of the day and the number of customers increased considerably – among bulk purchasers and end consumers. To summarise, all of this required a high degree of flexibility and much more precise planning processes – which is exactly what Schülke & Mayer achieved shortly before the pandemic with the GIB Suite planning module.

In hindsight: like a "rollercoaster ride"

As a first step, Schülke & Mayr integrated the forecast module from ifm to better plan production volumes. "With the help of the software, it is possible to focus on the interpretation of the data instead of dealing with the determination of average values or forecasting methods," says Ulrike Rehders. Another major advantage of the demand planning software for Schülke & Mayr is the simulation of different future scenarios. This allows various market conditions and influencing factors to be considered, which is particularly helpful in volatile times.

After the forecasting software worked so well, the decision was made to introduce the next module – planning. The result: "Based on the solid ifm software, we now operate with a fixed production plan for a fortnight, and up to eight weeks for central production steps such as filling. That's a huge step forward," reports Ulrike Rehders. The digitalisation of the supply chain is rounded off by the operations and controlling software modules. "With these solutions in place, we were able to plan well for the sharp rise in demand due to the coronavirus and have successfully mastered the 'rollercoaster ride'."

Better use of planners' intelligence

The software doesn't do all the work for you. "But that wasn't our aim either," explains Ulrike Rehders. "Our goal is to direct employee resources towards making the right decisions based on a solid database and not worry about acquiring, cleaning and preparing the data or overcoming media disruptions. In our view, this is very, very important to be able to manage processes in today's dynamic world and demanding supply chain."

Success story: Good planning is half the work

In this way, Schülke & Mayr was able to manage the considerable disruptions in the supply chains well and also cover the rapidly increasing demand for disinfectants. At the same time, those responsible have expanded the IT landscape in supply chain management step by step, module by module from the "ifm toolbox" – and now (almost) the entire supply chain is cleanly mapped.

A new software module every two years

What those responsible at Schülke & Mayr appreciate about ifm's supply chain tools is their excellent integration capability into the end-to-end SAP landscape, as well as their simple implementation and handling. This is another reason why the journey with ifm and the gradual expansion of the IT landscape for supply chain management is not yet over. "We introduce a new GIB Suite module every two years," says Ulrike Rehders. Which one will be next? "We're still looking into that. We still have potential in the direction of buying and order bundling, and vendor managed inventory is also interesting. For example, we could integrate our bottle or label suppliers into IT-supported supply chain management. These are topics that we can still cover well."