Straumann Group Scales Demand-Driven Planning After Anthogyr’s Success with Intuiflow

Straumann Group is the world leader in dental implants—designing, manufacturing, and distributing precision components that improve oral health for patients across more than 100 countries.

As demand for implantology accelerated globally, the company faced the growing pains of success: fast SKU proliferation, rising inventory, and volatile service performance.

The Challenge: Forecast Fatigue in a Fast-Growing Market

Over the years, Straumann’s global growth created complexity across a highly regulated network of plants and distributors. Forecast-driven planning—once sufficient—could no longer keep up with the pace of change.

“We were trying to improve our service level with as little inventory as possible,” recalled François Ravais, Supply Chain and Planning Director at Anthogyr, Straumann’s French manufacturing subsidiary. “It was very difficult to do it.”

By the time the company began exploring alternatives, its service level had slipped to 90%—a vulnerability competitors could exploit.

At the same time, inventories were well above target, tying up cash and capacity.

“Customer service was not good for us—and good for the competition,” said Ravais. “And we were carrying a lot more inventory than we wished.”

It became clear to Straumann’s leadership that the traditional forecast-driven paradigm had reached its limits. A new model was needed—one that could dynamically synchronize production and inventory to real market demand.

The Solution: Anthogyr Pilots a Demand-Driven Model

Straumann selected Intuiflow from Demand Driven Technologies, integrating Demand Driven MRP (DDMRP) concepts such as buffer positioning, sizing, and demand signal filtering directly into its planning and execution process.

“We found DDMRP to be more efficient after proof of concept and proof of value,” said Ravais.

Anthogyr, the Group’s French production site, became the pilot plant for this new flow-based model. Supported by implementation partner Agilea, the site replaced its MRP II logic with Intuiflow’s demand-driven buffers—going live after just six months.

“Intuiflow has become our main tool for planning and execution,” said Ravais. “At first, there was resistance—planners were the most impacted by this new philosophy. But now they wouldn’t let it go.”

Anthogyr’s planners quickly shifted from firefighting to managing clear, visual priorities. Inventory levels dropped, lead times shortened, and service levels rose—all while maintaining flexibility for growth.

“We’ve had double-digit growth every year for ten years,” noted Ravais. “I’m very confident that DDMRP and Intuiflow will allow us to continue that while maintaining our service level.”

Scaling the Success: Group-Wide Rollout at Straumann

Anthogyr’s success set the stage for a broader transformation. After one year of proven results, Straumann’s leadership decided to roll out Intuiflow across its global operations.

In 2020, the solution was implemented at the company’s main manufacturing plant in Switzerland, with additional manufacturing and distribution sites scheduled to follow in 2021 and beyond.

“Implementing the tool was the biggest challenge,” said Ravais. “You have to onboard the whole company—and the first one to onboard is the CEO.”

With Intuiflow and the DDMRP methodology, Straumann Group now enjoys:

• Rebalanced and reduced inventories across multiple plants and markets.
• Shorter replenishment lead times and stabilized production schedules.
• Aligned manufacturing and distribution priorities across the end-to-end network.
• Empowered planners working with greater clarity and control.

Future-Proof Your Supply Chain with Intuiflow

Straumann Group’s transformation demonstrates how Intuiflow helps global, high-precision manufacturers simplify planning, cut inventory, and sustain growth through real-time visibility and adaptive control.

Intuiflow connects materials planning, scheduling, and execution in one unified platform. Planners manage by priorities, not firefighting, with AI-optimized buffers and live dashboards showing exactly where attention is needed.

Intuiflow: One Platform. Four Core Solutions

• Materials Planning: Keep inventory aligned to real demand, avoiding shortages and overstocks.

• Scheduling & Execution: Sequence work by true priorities, not arbitrary due dates.

• Sales & Operations Planning: Link strategic goals to daily realities through shared visibility.

• Demand Planning: Adapt plans dynamically as conditions shift.

Intuiflow is Smarter by Design

With Autopilot, Intuiflow’s AI engine continuously tunes buffers to maintain service while minimizing inventory. Embedded Power BI analytics make performance transparent, and seamless ERP integration ensures data accuracy and fast deployment.

See how Intuiflow can help your organization move from forecast-driven complexity to demand-driven flow.

👉 Book an Intuiflow demo here to see how it can help you unlock results.