Oracle Customer Case Study

Eveready Improves Sales Forecast Accuracy,

Reduces Warehouse Stock Levels

“Oracle’s Demantra Demand Management and Oracle Value

Chain Planning have enabled Eveready to more accurately
forecast demand for our product lines, which has reduced stock
levels in our warehouses and improved our cash flow position.”
Eveready
West Bengal, India – Arup Choudhury, Senior General Manager, Information
www.evereadyindustries.com Technology, Eveready Industries
Industry:
Industrial Manufacturing Established in 1905, Eveready Industries India is a manufacturer
of dry cell batteries (zinc, rechargeable, and alkaline products),
Annual Revenue:
US$196 million flashlights, compact fluorescent lamps, packet tea, and insect
repellents. In 2009, Eveready acquired French rechargeable
Employees:
battery maker Uniross, which made it the world’s number one
2,300
rechargeable battery maker. Eveready’s 2,300 employees work in
Oracle Products & Services: 15 offices, 10 manufacturing plants, and 35 warehouses across
Demantra Demand Management
India.
Demantra Real-Time Sales and Since 2005, the company used Oracle E-Business Suite to manage
Operations Planning
its financials, human resources, and manufacturing operations. By
Oracle Value Chain Planning
2009, it required a system to better forecast demand and improve
supply chain management. In the preceding years, the company
has expanded its product lines and started manufacturing and
distributing rechargeable batteries, insect repellents, halogen
lamps, home lighting, and LED lanterns.
“It was important that our demand forecasts were accurate in each
of these markets,” said Arup Choudhury, senior general manager,
Information Technology, Eveready. “As we introduced new
products, there was a significant gap between our forecasts and
actual sales.”
In June 2009, Eveready engaged Oracle Certified Advantage
Partner IBM Business Consulting Services to deploy Oracle’s
Demantra Demand Management, Demantra Real-Time Sales and
Operations Planning, and Oracle Value Chain Planning. These
applications enabled the company to improve demand forecasting
and produce better distribution, production, and material
requirement plans.
“Demantra Demand Management and Oracle Value Chain
Planning have enabled Eveready to more accurately forecast
Copyright © 2010, Oracle. All rights reserved.
Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Published July 2010
 Oracle Customer Case Study

Key Benefits: demand for our product lines, which has reduced stock levels in
Improved sales forecast our warehouses and improved our cash flow position,” said
accuracy
Choudhury.
Gained the ability to
manufacture products to fulfill
Improved Sales Forecasting
expected demand, which
reduced the value of inventory Eveready uses Demantra Demand Management to assist with
in its warehouse by 15% sales forecasting for all its product lines. Historical sales data
Enabled managers to monitor flows from Oracle E-Business Suite into Demantra Demand
staff performance and
Management to predict sales demand. The system also calculates
determine if they were meeting
key performance indicators percentage growth rates in the marketplace and the effect of
Reduced the time it took to special promotions on required stock levels.
develop a consolidated
“Our sales forecasts are now 60% to 65% accurate, and in some
distribution, production, and
material requirements plan for cases, they are as high as 80%,” said Choudhury. “This means if
the organization from 72 hours we planned to sell 100,000 units of a certain type of battery, we
to 1.5 hours would end up selling at least 80,000.
Allowed managers to identify
issues that slowed down “Previously, our forecast accuracy was often below 35% and we
production and product had excess stock in the warehouses month after month, which was
distribution, and solve them
costing us money.”
almost immediately
Eveready has also reported a reduction in the value of inventory in
its warehouses by 15%. This means that the company is
manufacturing products to fulfill expected demand, rather than for
full capacity.

“We are no longer producing more than we need,” said

Choudhury. “Now, we have accurate forecasting data to
determine how long we can hold stock in our warehouses to keep
inventories at their lowest possible level. For instance, we know
that we are producing exactly the right number of batteries to
fulfill the market need at any given time.”

More Control over Key Performance Indicators

Demantra Real-Time Sales and Operations Planning enables
Eveready’s top executive managers to develop sales revenue plans
based on existing demand. They can also assess and monitor line-
of-business and plant managers, branch managers, and sales staff
against the key performance indicators (KPIs) they have been set.
“For example, branch managers need to meet certain KPIs around
the amount of stock that they make available at certain locations,”
said Choudhury. “Managers can continuously monitor the
performance of various staff members to determine if they are
meeting their KPIs, which are linked to their incentives.”

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Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Published July 2010
 Oracle Customer Case Study

Automated Distribution and Production Plans

Staff use demand forecasts, which are sent from Demantra
Demand Management to Oracle Value Chain Planning, to
automatically create distribution, production, and material
requirement plans. Previously, staff at branch offices and at the
company’s central logistics department used Microsoft Excel
spreadsheets to develop these plans.
“Today, it takes about 1.5 hours to develop a consolidated
distribution, production, and material requirements plan for the
entire organization,” said Choudhury. “It used to take up to 72
hours every month to develop a plan using spreadsheets.
“Managers can now focus on analyzing these plans and making
sure staff at each of our locations is executing them correctly.
They can also identify issues that slow down production and
product distribution, and solve them almost immediately because
they have the right information at hand.

“For example, the head of manufacturing will be automatically

alerted if a particular plant is not adhering to the production plan.
He then gets in touch with the respective plant manager to
determine what went wrong and decides how the issue can be
rectified.”

Why Oracle?
Eveready’s relationship with Oracle began in 2005 when the
company deployed Oracle E-Business Suite. According to
Choudhury, it made sense to continue using Oracle products.
“It was crucial that we deployed demand management and supply
chain systems that would integrate well with Oracle E-Business
Suite,” said Choudhury. “We also have one point of contact for
support, which makes it easier if we have questions about the
products or an issue that needs to be resolved.”

Implementation Process
In June 2009, Eveready engaged IBM Business Consulting
Services to manage the implementation. Initially, IBM helped
reorganize Eveready’s supply chain and develop a project plan.
IBM Business Consulting Services worked with Eveready’s IT
team to ensure that Demantra Demand Management, Demantra
Real-Time Sales and Operations Planning, and Oracle Value

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Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Published July 2010
 Oracle Customer Case Study

Chain Planning integrated with Oracle E-Business Suite

applications. Both teams refined data from Oracle E-Business
Suite and moved it to the new system so it would run smoothly.
Eveready’s logistics team and its plant and branch managers were
also involved in this process to ensure they were familiar with the
system. Eveready conducted end user training over a two-week
period and will continue until the end of 2010.
The rollout was completed by February 2010.

Established in 1905, Eveready Industries India is a manufacturer and seller of dry

cell batteries (zinc, rechargeable, and alkaline products), flashlights, compact
fluorescent lamps, packet tea, LED lanterns, Halogen lamps and insect repellents.

Copyright © 2010, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Published July 2010