YUKO Cuts Overstock and Lifts Service Levels with Intuiflow’s Demand-Driven Planning

A modern Ukrainian lubricants plant operating 2,000+ SKUs across 70 export markets replaced spreadsheet firefighting with demand-driven planning and achieved measurable gains in service and inventory mix.

Executive Intro

Dmitriy Vasilyev, CFO at YUKO Lubricants, oversees a wide portfolio of lubricants, automotive and industrial oils, cutting and molding fluids, and service products.

The company manufactures more than 300 lubricant types and over 2,000 finished-goods SKUs, including make-to-order items and private-label products, shipping to 70 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America, and Oceania.Facing volatility, currency swings, and frequent demand shifts, he needed a faster, more resilient way to align supply and demand and reduce the daily planning burden.

The Challenge

Before Intuiflow, planning was driven by monthly S&OP targets but executed through spreadsheets and daily workarounds. Forecast accuracy lagged as assortments changed and product life cycles shortened. The result was a bimodal inventory picture too little of some items and too much of others leading to periodic stockouts, overtime to catch up on late orders (especially for export), and misaligned working capital.

YUKO’s main goals were to ensure a trouble-proof supply of necessary products and to automate production planning and inventory management across a complex, mixed-mode environment (make-to-stock, make-to-order, and private label).

“All complex questions have simple answers, and the DDMRP methodology is understandable for both managers and planners.” — Dmitriy Vasilyev, CFO, YUKO Lubricants

The Intuiflow Solution

In summer 2019, YUKO’s management visited Kormotech an Intuiflow user of more than two years to see the system live, discuss results, and validate the approach. Following the visit, YUKO chose Intuiflow and committed to a training-led rollout.

• Simulation-first to validate logic and adoption before purchase
• Live in weeks; ROI visibility in 60–90 days through stabilized execution
• Autopilot, item-level buffers to protect flow across raw, semi-finished, and finished goods
• Intuitive UI to reduce firefighting and manual replanning

As part of stage one, leadership decided an overview of DDMRP would not be enough. To increase the probability of success, key employees completed the Demand Driven Planner Professional workshop (Demand Driven Institute).
Today, 100% of active nomenclature is managed in the cloud-based Intuiflow system.

“The purpose of automation was to help certain divisions of the company — the sales, supply, distribution departments. But together with such help, we got a specialist’s worldview shift.” — Dmitriy Vasiliev, CFO

Why Intuiflow (Optional)

• End-to-end visibility in one system instead of scattered spreadsheets
• Resilience to supplier and currency variability via buffer sizing and order-cycle control
• Alignment of operations and finance with clear priorities to protect service while improving mix
• Sustainable processes and data discipline embedded through training and governance

Implementation Journey (Optional)

• Reference validation (2019): Site visit to Kormotech built confidence in method and software.
• Education first: Teams completed DDP training to internalize demand-driven principles.
• Process & data readiness: ERP master data (SKUs, lead times, BOMs, order cycles) was verified and governed to keep the system sustainable post-go-live.
• Flow controls: Strategic buffer placement and adjustable order cycles helped balance capacity, agility, and throughput as demand fluctuated.
• Coverage: Rollout expanded from production to distribution once stability and gains were visible.

The Results

Results at a Glance

• Finished-goods stock decreased by 8% while sales grew 13% (June 2019–March 2020)
  
  
• Finished-goods SKUs in “Overstock” decreased by 60% (2019–2020)
  
  
• Distribution inventory reduced from UAH 13M to UAH 6.5M with sales growth (May–Nov 2021)
  
  
• Distribution SKUs in “Overstock” fell from 81% to 45% (2021)
  
  
• More reliable schedules and fewer overtime surges; improved turnover and service indicators
  
  

KPI Table

“There was no need to look for new information — the necessary data was available, it was simply misinterpreted. But as itself, the random accumulation of information did not lead to success. The meaning of each individual event is manifested in the context of subsequent similar events, that is, in the flow.” — Dmitriy Vasiliev, CFO

Looking Ahead (Optional)

YUKO plans to continue extending Intuiflow’s demand-driven logic across production and distribution as the portfolio evolves. With buffers protecting key raw materials, packaging, and finished products and 100% of active nomenclature governed in one cloud system the company is positioned to handle future volatility, scale growth, and maintain high service with a leaner inventory profile.

👉 Book a Demo today and see how Intuiflow proves ROI before you commit.