A U.S.-based food manufacturer experiencing fast growth faced mounting operational inefficiencies in its forecasting and demand planning processes.
The Challenge
With multiple sales representatives managing their own versions of Excel-based plans, the company struggled with version control, data inconsistencies, and an inability to integrate actuals into planning workflows.
Key pain points included:
- Inconsistent, siloed sales and promotion forecasts maintained by individual reps
- Manual data entry leading to errors and unreliable forecasts
- Disjointed systems for actual sales, promotions, and approvals
- Lack of centralized visibility and auditability in the planning process
These issues slowed down planning cycles, strained coordination between Sales and FP&A, and weakened leadership’s confidence in forecast-driven decisions.
- Date: July 6, 2025
- Client: Growing Packaged Foods Brand
- Location: California, USA
- Category: Food Manufacturing
- Website:
The Solution
We partnered closely with stakeholders—from FP&A leads to frontline sales reps—to design and implement a centralized EPM model that could bring clarity, structure, and speed to their planning processes.
Discovery & Alignment
- Conducted cross-functional interviews to understand user behaviours and planning pain points
- Mapped out ideal future-state workflows across promotion, demand planning, and approvals
- Aligned business goals with a technology roadmap for scalable EPM transformation
Implementation & Innovation
- Delivered a centralized EPM model that unified forecast and promotion planning
Enablement & Long-Term Success
- Partnered with client SME to deliver the required models
- Designed user friendly forms easy data entry and approval processes
- Provided extensive training to enable the client SME to handle the admin process
- Accommodated changing requirements without disturbing core functionalities
The Result
The transformation was more than technological—it was strategic.
- 60% reduction in planning cycle time
- 100% elimination of disconnected Excel-based models
- Forecasting accuracy improved with integrated actuals
- Sales and FP&A teams unified under a single, trusted process
- Planning scaled seamlessly across multiple business units