Tibo de Ruvil, responsible for industrial separation at Michelin Group, oversees 120 industrial activities across global locations. With vast flows of materials crossing oceans and connecting diverse facilities, he needed a faster way to align supply and demand.
But with traditional planning practices, Michelin’s OE tire operations faced constant firefighting: volatile demand signals, production pressures, and rising inventory complexity. Service levels slipped, inventories ballooned, and customer satisfaction was at risk.
As the world leader in vehicle tire manufacturing, Michelin competes in highly dynamic global markets. To maintain and grow their position, a highly efficient and effective supply chain is required.
In Original Equipment (OE) tires, the stakes were especially high: perfect service levels were essential to avoid delaying customers’ automotive production lines. Yet keeping inventories low while responding to volatile demand created ongoing strain.
“Demand Driven MRP processes have significantly improved flow management. Since the beginning of the pilot phase, we have not identified any crisis and we have noticed an increase in the sensitivity of the factory to customer needs. Currently, communication with the Valladolid factory is more fluid and this allows us to be able to respond even to modifications of firm orders.” — Jesús García Menéndez, Lead Process Engineer
Michelin selected Intuiflow from Demand Driven Technologies and launched a pilot at its Valladolid, Spain factory. The project applied Demand Driven MRP (DDMRP) concepts — buffer positioning, sizing, demand signal filtering, and execution processes to address service and inventory challenges.
The results: improved bi-directional information flow, stabilized scheduling, and stronger responsiveness to customer demand.
“When I met Carl, she asked me, do you have bi-modal effect and inventory issues? Yes. Do you have balloon-perfect? I said yes, but my issue is that I don’t want to fix it. She said, I have your solution for you: DDMRP. So we started the education and the pilot and that was the beginning.” — Tibo de Ruvil, Michelin Group
Results at a Glance
[Figure: KPI Table]
|
KPI |
Before |
After |
Impact |
|
Service Levels |
91% |
99% |
+8 points, near perfect |
|
Inventory Levels |
— |
-20% |
Significant cost savings |
|
Lead Time |
— |
-15% |
Faster responsiveness |
|
Production Stability |
Volatile |
Stable |
Predictable operations |
|
Supply Chain Resilience |
Limited |
Improved |
Anticipated disruptions |
“We’ve seen reduction of inventory, we’ve seen increase of service. The magnitude is 10 to 15 percent reduction of inventory, which for Michelin is a big amount of money. Ten percent increase in terms of service. And an easier way of working for the plant planners. Because DDMRP is extremely visual and last, but not least, we have been able to really link our factory to the real customer demand.” — Tibo de Ruvil, Michelin Group
After proving success at the Valladolid factory, Michelin began scaling Intuiflow globally, with plans to expand across more than 70 facilities worldwide. With inventory leaner and service more reliable, the company is positioned to manage future volatility and sustain excellence.
“Now the plants understand that they have to react to serve the customer. And the customers are the only ones that bring money into our organization.” — Tibo de Ruvil, Michelin Group