The Story Behind The Scenes
Norra Skog Group is a large forest management company in the north of Sweden. With over 27,000 member forest owners, Norra Skog is responsible for sustainable forestry and delivering wood products to customers.
In 2020, Norra Skog merged with two other companies called Norra Skogsägarna and Norrskog. This combination urged Norra Skog to rebuild their production forecasting systems from scratch, as the old approach had become unsustainable.
Before the collaboration, Norra Skog had relied on an Excel solution that was only partially automated to make predictions about output. But, the data became inconsistent and invalid because of the decentralized method, in which each production manager kept their own copy of the forecasting spreadsheet.
Challenges with the Previous Method
The key issues Norra Skog faced with their outdated forecasting system were:
Distributed and Irregular Data Collection: Without a unified data collection process, the different production managers' spreadsheets contained incoherent information, making it difficult to get an accurate, comprehensive view of production.
Widespread Manual Errors: The heavy reliance on manual data entry and manipulation in multiple Excel sheets led to a significant risk of human errors, which in turn compromised the quality and validity of the forecasts.
Lack of Predictability for Customers: The data inconsistencies and forecasting mistakes made it difficult for Norra Skog to provide trustworthy and dependable production information to their customers. This uncertainty presented a risk of material shortages.
The Game-Changer Effect of Aimplan
In early 2023, Norra Skog took a significant step towards improving their production forecasting and planning processes by implementing Aimplan.
Their mission was clear: to make forecasting as smooth and efficient as possible, get rid of manual headaches of their old system, and equip their team with up-to-date predictions.
By moving to a monthly forecasting cycle powered by Aimplan and integrated smoothly within their existing Power BI environment, Norra Skog experienced a true game-changer in their operations.
Some key benefits Norra Skog has seen include:
Strengthened data quality through a centralized, automated system versus siloed Excel files.
Improved forecast reliability to better predict production volumes and meet customer needs.
Streamlined planning processes through Power BI dashboards and scenarios analyzed in Aimplan.
Time savings for production managers who no longer spend as much time maintaining forecasts. Instead, it is now focused more on higher-level planning.
The Smooth Ride and Big Wins
In sum, adopting Aimplan was like a breath of fresh air for Norra Skog:
With Aimplan by their side, Norra Skog has shown that they are committed to using smart tools to drive business change. This relationship with Aimplan has been a huge success, setting Norra Skog up for continued growth and success in the forest management field.
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