When working capital is locked in stock and service levels can’t be risked, conventional planning hits a wall. This case shows how a global manufacturer broke through that ceiling—strategically.

Following the 2015 oil price crash, a leading multinational lubricant manufacturer faced mounting pressure to reduce working capital. While they had already deployed advanced demand sensing technologies such as Terra Tech (now E2Open), their existing planning processes could no longer deliver the performance improvements needed. Further inventory reductions were constrained by the fear of negatively impacting customer service levels—a trade-off the business could not afford.

The Challenge

Despite incremental gains from traditional systems, the company had reached a performance ceiling. Inventory levels remained stubbornly high, and any further cuts risked destabilising service levels in a competitive, margin-sensitive environment.

Key Constraints:

• High working capital tied up in inventory

• Existing systems incapable of further optimisation

• Risk of service-level degradation

Strategic Intervention

Working in close partnership with the client, ABA led by Patrick Rigoni implemented a fully demand-driven approach using DDMRP. The intervention spanned the global network:

• Global Rollout: DDMRP was deployed across 30+ plants and 150 distribution centres.

• Validated Pilot: The Mediterranean cluster was selected as the pilot region, where simulations in North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific helped to validate the business case and design the global implementation template.

• End-to-End Organisational Design: ABA supported the complete organisational redesign, covering DDS&OP, buffer management, and performance metrics—ensuring the change was not just technical but operational and cultural.

Tangible Results

By implementing a Demand Driven Operating Model (DDOM), the company achieved breakthrough results:

• 20% Inventory Reduction: A record performance, freeing up significant working capital without risking supply.

• 99% Availability: Of base oils, additives, and packaging materials, enabled by strategic decoupling points.

• Customer Satisfaction Maintained: Despite structural changes, the CSI remained at 9/10—a clear signal of operational resilience.

“We now finally have an S&OP Process that adds value. […] Through the thousands of backorders, customers continue to comment on ‘how does Shell do this and keep a Customer Satisfaction Index of 9/10?’”
— Richard Wilkinson, Production and Logistics Scheduling Manager Europe, Shell

Key Takeaways

This case illustrates that real transformation is possible when operational visibility, inventory design, and cross-functional planning are aligned. ABA’s methodology ensured that DDMRP was not just implemented, but embedded in a way that enabled sustainable performance gains across a highly complex global network.

Without intervention, the company risked being unable to respond to commodity price shocks or reduce working capital without sacrificing service.