Breaking Free from Excel-Based Planning
PlanNEL Reduces Planning Workload by 50%
Industry: Outdoor Equipment & Apparel
Annual Revenue: ¥10–50 Billion
Employees: 500–1,000
We spoke with Mr. Takeshi Kawakami of the Sales Planning Department at Snow Peak about the reasons behind the adoption of the SaaS-based SCM solution PlanNEL, the challenges the company faced before implementation, and the benefits realized afterward.
Could you tell us about Snow Peak’s business?
Snow Peak is an outdoor lifestyle company founded in 1958 in Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture, a region well known for its manufacturing heritage.
Under our corporate message, “Bring the Outdoors into Everyday Life,” and our mission to “connect people with nature and with one another, restoring humanity through outdoor experiences,” we develop camping equipment and apparel while expanding globally into areas such as food and beverage, regional revitalization, and business solutions.
How is your SCM organization structured?
Our headquarters planning department develops company-wide policies based on inventory and sales data and coordinates allocation decisions across the organization.
Although each domestic and international location has its own personnel responsible for planning activities, headquarters takes the lead in making key decisions regarding procurement, inventory allocation, and supply planning.
What challenges were you facing before implementing PlanNEL?
Before introducing PlanNEL, demand for camping products surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a situation in which supply could not keep up with demand.
At that time, our highest priority was meeting customer demand. Rather than focusing on sophisticated planning processes, we concentrated on securing as much production capacity as possible throughout the supply chain.
As the business continued to grow, however, a fundamental question emerged:
“Is our current ordering process really sufficient for the future?”
This discussion eventually led to the establishment of our Sales Planning Department.
Previously, orders were often placed whenever production capacity became available, without a structured process for evaluating whether those orders were truly aligned with future demand. We needed a framework that would enable more informed and objective decision-making.
Initially, we managed a basic PSI (Production, Sales, and Inventory) planning process using Excel. However, managing global operations with a small team created a tremendous workload.
Excel also made version management difficult. Since master data could not be managed effectively across planning cycles, separate files had to be created each month. As a result, comparing plan versions, tracking changes, and performing continuous analysis became extremely challenging.
After discussions with external SCM consultants, we concluded that implementing a dedicated supply and demand planning system was the best solution.
How did you learn about PlanNEL, and why did you choose it?
Our evaluation process began after consulting with Professor Yoshinobu Ueno of Kanazawa Institute of Technology Graduate School.
Naturally, we evaluated several alternative solutions. However, when balancing functionality against cost, PlanNEL was the only solution that met our requirements.
To be honest, the decision came down to two options:
“Implement PlanNEL, or continue operating as we were.”
Because our product portfolio and planning requirements are relatively straightforward, we did not require extensive customization. We determined that PlanNEL’s standard SaaS functionality was more than sufficient for our needs.
Initially, our primary objective was to improve forecasting accuracy through AI-driven demand forecasting.
However, through discussions with ZIONEX, we learned that PlanNEL could provide an integrated solution covering:
- AI Demand Forecasting
- Sales Planning
- Replenishment Planning
all within a single platform.
This was extremely attractive to us.
Using separate systems would have required significant effort to transfer and synchronize data. PlanNEL eliminates that complexity by providing a unified platform for the entire planning process.
Previously, planning relied primarily on forecasts generated by local teams and Excel-based analysis. With PlanNEL, we can now compare and evaluate both human forecasts and AI-generated forecasts side by side.
In addition to improving forecast accuracy, this enables us to provide objective, data-driven explanations whenever stakeholders ask:
“Why are these the numbers?”
That capability has been especially valuable.
What benefits have you experienced since implementing PlanNEL?
We have seen two major benefits.
1. A New Approach to Inventory Management
Initially, our focus was on preventing stockouts.
As our operations matured, however, the focus shifted toward maintaining inventory at the optimal level.
Previously, we applied the same safety stock policy across all products.
After implementing PlanNEL, we adopted ABC-XYZ Analysis, classifying products according to their sales contribution and demand variability within a nine-cell matrix. This allowed us to establish inventory policies tailored to each category.
Although multiple improvement initiatives contributed to these results, inventory levels have steadily declined.
At the same time, stockout rates have also decreased, demonstrating significant improvements in inventory planning accuracy and effectiveness.
2. Significant Reduction in Planning Workload
For products with stable demand patterns, we rely largely on PlanNEL’s forecast recommendations.
For products with greater demand variability, such as seasonal items, planners apply their expertise and judgment to refine the forecasts.
This hybrid approach has dramatically improved planning efficiency.
As the Sales Planning Department has matured, the reduction in operational workload compared with our previous Excel-based process has been substantial.
Another feature we highly value is the ability to document planning assumptions and decisions directly within the system.
Because these notes are retained across planning versions, we can easily review historical plans and understand:
- What events occurred
- Why specific planning decisions were made
- What assumptions supported those decisions
As our team grows, preserving and sharing this knowledge has become increasingly important.
How do you plan to use PlanNEL going forward?
Currently, we generate demand forecasts centrally across all warehouses and distribute the resulting figures to each location.
Going forward, we would like to move toward a collaborative planning model in which local sites contribute their own forecasts and planning inputs.
Our vision is to assign qualified demand and supply planners at each location. These planners will combine PlanNEL forecasts with local market intelligence to create plans that are then consolidated into a company-wide plan.
We have already improved inventory management across Snow Peak as a whole, but detailed inventory optimization between individual locations remains an area for improvement.
In the future, we plan to leverage PlanNEL to support more efficient inventory transfers and balancing activities between locations.
Any final message for companies considering PlanNEL?
PlanNEL is particularly well suited for organizations that want to establish a single set of numbers across the enterprise and use those numbers as the foundation for decision-making and communication.
Every company faces situations where forecast-based demand projections differ from budget targets.
When this happens, organizations often face a difficult choice:
Should we order based on the budget, or based on actual demand?
Many companies have experienced the consequences of ordering according to budget targets and ending up with excess inventory.
In these situations, PlanNEL provides a powerful foundation for objective decision-making.
Because discussions can begin from a common understanding of:
- The planning logic
- The forecasting algorithms
- The current optimal recommendation
teams can focus on determining the actions needed to close gaps between budget and forecast.
For example, discussions can shift toward questions such as:
- How should merchandising be adjusted?
- What promotional activities should be implemented?
- What actions will help achieve business objectives?
PlanNEL provides strong support for these strategic decisions.
For companies managing large SKU portfolios in particular, the efficiency gains can be substantial. If your organization faces similar challenges, PlanNEL is well worth exploring.
