Cosmetics company Lush operates more than 850 stores in 50 countries. As the brand continues to grow, it relies on flexible, collaborative planning tools to quickly analyze data and support smarter supply chain decisions.
at Lush stores and its digital fulfillment businesses, into Lush’s manufacturing plans. “Arkieva built that functionality for us specifically,” Gregory says. To get up and running with Arkieva, several consultants from the company remained onsite at Lush, providing information on the solutions while also learning about the capabilities Lush needed. “The implementation went smoothly,” Gregory says. Arkieva’s intuitive interface can ease implementations. “You don’t have to be a statistician, or have a PhD or degree in supply chain planning to use it,” Kmetz says. Because it’s easy for most employees to get up to speed on Arkieva’s solutions, many organizations that implement them can quickly capture value, he adds. STREAMLINED, RELIABLE FORECASTING Lush’s implementation of Arkieva has provided several benefits. Before implementing the solutions, Lush North America’s spreadsheet-based process didn’t allow for a reliable way to measure forecast accuracy. With the introduction of Arkieva, Lush now can track the accuracy of its forecasts. Gregory says Lush is meeting its target for forecast accuracy at the category level. The Arkieva solution has also streamlined forecasting, while providing greater inventory visibility and improved
demand planning insight for materials planning. In addition, Lush management can quickly determine how changes in demand will impact revenue. With better forecasting, companies often can both boost sales and reduce expenses, improving both sides of their income statement. They’re less likely to lose sales as a result of inventory not being where it needs to be, and less likely to have to expedite shipments to meet customer demand. They can allocate money that otherwise would have gone to holding inventory to other areas of their business, Kmetz says. Greater forecast accuracy also helps demand planners identify opportunities to improve at the SKU level. “We are now able to direct where we need the inventory to be,” Gregory says. For example, the forecasts now can more precisely account for the impact seasonal products are likely to have on sales of year-round products. One main reason Lush chose Arkieva was its willingness to work together as true partners, Gregory says. This has remained the case as Lush continually introduces new products and initiatives, such as a recently launched business-to- business partnership. “Arkieva was able to design features for us and make them work for our business,” Gregory says. “It wasn’t just cookie-cutter software.”
time and the amount of inventory it has on hand, among other factors. Store managers can log in to the system to review their forecasts. When they place their orders, they can modify the suggested recommendations, based on their insight and experience. Gregory and his team assemble the information from each store manager and then use it to inform manufacturing plans. This approach helps to both maximize sales and limit stockouts, particularly for the limited product ranges introduced throughout the year. It’s more difficult to “chase demand” for these items, because if the demand forecasts aren’t accurate from the start, there’s only a limited amount of time to make up for any inaccuracies. Accurate forecasts and manufacturing plans are also important, given that many Lush products have a specific shelf life, making it harder to hold inventory for a longer time. Lush also sells a limited range of products through Ulta Beauty’s website. This required some modifications to the Arkieva solutions, which initially had been set up with only Lush stores as locations. Gregory and his team worked with Arkieva to create a module in the software to define Ulta’s distribution centers as locations. This allows Lush to plug in its demand forecast at the Ulta distribution center level, along with forecasted demand
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