See how Coca-Cola Beverages Africa transformed its supply chain, reducing inventory and improving service with Intuiflow’s demand-driven planning.
When you manage the supply chain for the world’s eighth-largest Coca-Cola bottler, complexity is a given.
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) serves more than a dozen countries across southern and eastern Africa. In 2018 alone, the company shipped over 916 million cases of product—each one the result of countless moving parts, from raw materials and packaging to distribution and shelf placement.
By then, the network had become too complex for its own good. SKU counts had exploded. Product categories had more than doubled. Forecast accuracy lingered below 70%.
And even after years of “continuous improvement,” the results weren’t enough: stockouts still near 20%, OTIF deliveries stuck in the 60s, and planners buried in spreadsheets.
“Our planners were working long hours, firefighting, and second-guessing every decision. We were doing the wrong things faster.”
— Barry Anderson, Group Planning Leader, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa
The team had squeezed everything they could out of traditional MRP and forecast-driven routines. What they needed wasn’t another layer of technology — it was a new way to think.
In 2016, a regional planning conference in Port Elizabeth sparked a shift that would ripple through the entire organization.
Among presentations on forecast accuracy and scheduling efficiency, one speaker introduced an unfamiliar concept: Demand Driven MRP (DDMRP).
The idea was radical in its simplicity — plan based on actual consumption, not long-term forecasts; protect flow with strategic buffers, not arbitrary safety stock.
By the end of that meeting, CCBA’s planning leaders knew they’d found the direction they’d been looking for.
Within months, the company sent its first planners through Certified Demand Driven Planner (CDDP) training. By early 2017, they launched a pilot at their bottling plant in Namibia, which shipped 14 million cases annually across 135 SKUs.
“If I had to summarize DDMRP in one word, it would be visibility. We can see, at first glance, the actual status of our raw materials and finished goods—and replenish in the right order, to the right buffer zones.”
— Stephen Wicks, Planning Manager, Namibia
The pilot was an immediate success. But it also exposed a truth: managing DDMRP in Excel could only take them so far. It was time for a platform that could scale across their multi-country network.
By 2018, CCBA’s DDMRP principles were already spreading—first via spreadsheets in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Ghana.
The results were promising, but the manual process was heavy. Pulling data from SAP into spreadsheets and refreshing the logic took too long; by the time reports were ready, the information was outdated.
In late 2018, CCBA began looking for a system that could standardize and automate the approach, eliminate the friction of manual tools, and integrate seamlessly with SAP.
After evaluating in-house development and several third-party systems, they chose Intuiflow from Demand Driven Technologies.
The implementation followed the same principle that had guided the entire journey: “software before software.” The teams focused first on education and process capability, then on technology.
When Intuiflow went live in Namibia in mid-2019, the impact was immediate.
Within just two months, total inventory fell by 29%—on top of reductions already achieved during the spreadsheet phase. Raw and packaging materials dropped 38%, distribution inventory 27%, and service climbed to world-class levels.
“We proved you don’t need a better forecast to get better results.”
— Barry Anderson
From there, rollouts accelerated—first to Uganda and Mozambique, then to Tanzania, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Within a year, Intuiflow was live across seven countries and more than forty manufacturing and distribution sites.
The difference wasn’t just in numbers—it was in mindset.
Before Intuiflow, planning meetings revolved around firefighting: why a shipment was late, whose fault it was, what to expedite next.
After Intuiflow, priorities were visible to everyone. The entire organization — planners, buyers, schedulers, and production teams — worked from the same source of truth.
“It’s not only a planning tool. It helps on the execution side. Everyone sees the same priorities, so we’re all on the same page.”
— Izak Maritz, Planning Manager, Southern Africa
Each morning, planners opened Intuiflow to see the day’s priorities by buffer zone: which items were critical (red), which were at risk (yellow), and which were safely stocked (green).
Instead of chasing forecasts, they focused on flow—replenishing what customers had actually consumed, in real time.
“Each morning I see my priorities for the day, whether for raw materials or finished goods. DDMRP makes decision-making fast and clear.”
— Birhan Tesfa, Planning Manager, Ethiopia
The first pilot and later the first Intuiflow rollout. Within two months: 29% total inventory reduction, service above 85%, and no more last-minute firefighting.
“We no longer get surprises. Planning is flexible and clear.” — Stephen Wicks
The team struggled with messy data and fragmented tools. Once the data was cleaned and buffers established, planners regained control.
“Before, we had too much of some items and too little of others. Now, inventory is balanced, and service has improved.” — Sheila Birungi
Within six months, working capital inventory fell by 30%, freeing cash for growth.
“It simplifies a planner’s job and improves cash flow. We now keep inventories at the optimal level.” — Salum Nassor
By introducing discipline and dynamic replenishment, the team halved inventory coverage—from two weeks to one or less.
“DDMRP gave us structure. Our inventory is leaner, our service stronger, and our working capital freer.” — Donald Quao
Rolling out a new planning system across seven countries wasn’t easy. But CCBA knew that success depended less on software and more on people.
Training came first. Every planner learned the logic of buffers, flow, and demand-driven execution before ever logging into Intuiflow.
Interactive workshops like DD Bricks, a hands-on simulation, helped break down old habits and demonstrate how decoupled flow beats traditional MRP.
“The biggest challenge was changing mindsets. People thought our business was too complex for something so simple. Once they saw it work, the resistance vanished.
— Barry Anderson
That human shift was as powerful as the system itself. Planners who once dreaded long nights of Excel gymnastics now enjoyed their work. Decision-making became factual, not political. And cross-functional tension gave way to collaboration.
Africa’s beverage market is famously dynamic — variable demand, extended lead times, and infrastructure challenges test even the best systems.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, CCBA faced new turbulence: borders closing, on-premise channels collapsing, and take-home pack demand spiking overnight.
While some regions initially over-bought from fear of disruption, the organization quickly learned to trust the buffers.
“We learned that if you let the buffers work, they absorb the shocks. We didn’t need to panic; the system was built for this.”
— Barry Anderson
By adjusting buffer lead times and zones dynamically, CCBA maintained flow, protected service, and avoided the wild oscillations that hit many competitors.
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Total inventory | ↓ 29% (first 2 months post–Intuiflow go-live) |
| Raw & packaging materials | ↓ 38% |
| Distribution inventory | ↓ 27% |
| Stockouts | ↓ to single digits |
| OTIF deliveries | ↑ from 60s to mid-80s |
| Planner productivity | Major improvement; no more firefighting |
“It took the arguments out. Everyone sees the same truth—what needs to be produced, when, and why.”
— Barry Anderson
CCBA’s journey is far from over. With Intuiflow now live across seven countries, new sites continue to come online. The group is migrating its ERP to Microsoft Dynamics F&O, integrated natively with Intuiflow, and extending Advanced Planning Module (APM) capabilities for capacity simulation and supplier collaboration.
Suppliers, too, have noticed the difference.
“They tell us, ‘We don’t know what you’re doing differently—but keep doing it.’ Our requests are steadier and easier to plan around.”
— Barry Anderson
The goal now is to extend flow even further—beyond the factory and warehouse to partners, suppliers, and distributors—creating a truly demand-driven value chain across Africa.
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa transformed one of the continent’s largest and most complex supply chains not by predicting the future better, but by responding to the present faster.
By replacing forecast-driven complexity with Intuiflow’s demand-driven clarity, CCBA:
In short, they turned visibility into velocity.
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa’s journey proves that real resilience doesn’t come from bigger forecasts — it comes from faster adaptation.
With Intuiflow, CCBA built a connected, demand-driven supply chain that reacts to consumption in real time, protects service across borders, and frees up millions in working capital.
Intuiflow gives planners a unified view of priorities — from raw materials to finished goods — and a platform that links materials planning, scheduling, and execution under one source of truth.
Instead of firefighting, planners now manage by flow.
With Autopilot, Intuiflow’s AI engine continuously fine-tunes buffer levels to maintain service while minimizing inventory.
Built-in Power BI analytics make performance transparent across every site.
And with seamless integration to SAP and Microsoft Dynamics, implementation is fast, reliable, and scalable.
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa isn’t just forecasting better — it’s planning with confidence, flowing with demand, and leading its region in supply chain agility.
👉 Book an Intuiflow demo to discover how it can help your organization move from forecast-driven complexity to demand-driven flow.
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