20% Inventory Reduction | 8 Points Service Increase | 15% Shorter Lead Times.
As one of the world’s largest tire manufacturers, Michelin operates 120 industrial sites spanning every continent—producing and distributing millions of tires across automotive, aviation, and industrial markets.
Coordinating this global network requires precision. Every plant, supplier, and logistics partner must work in unison to meet customer demand while optimizing capital and resources.
Yet despite its leadership in industrial excellence, Michelin faced a growing challenge: traditional, forecast-driven planning was no longer keeping up with the pace and complexity of its operations.
The Challenge: A Bimodal Inventory Problem on a Global Scale
Michelin’s Original Equipment (OE) business supplies tires directly to automakers’ assembly lines—where even minor supply disruptions can halt vehicle production. Achieving near-perfect service levels is non-negotiable.
However, years of expansion and product diversification created volatile demand and inventory imbalance across the network. Planners struggled to anticipate what was truly needed, leading to both shortages and overstocks—the classic “bimodal inventory effect.”
“When I met Karl, she asked me, ‘Do you have bimodal effect and inventory issues?’” recalled Thibaut d’Herouville, Vice President of Industrial Separation at Michelin. “I said yes. Then she asked, ‘Do you have balloon-perfect?’ I said yes too. She replied, ‘Then I have your solution: DDMRP.’”
Michelin’s leadership knew it was time for a paradigm shift. The goal was clear: improve service levels, reduce inventory, and connect every factory to real customer demand.
The Solution: Demand-Driven Planning with Intuiflow
The company launched a pilot using Intuiflow from Demand Driven Technologies, embedding Demand Driven MRP (DDMRP) principles into its planning model.
“We started the education and the pilot, and that was the beginning,” said d’Herouville. “With DDMRP, we’ve seen better quality of inventory—the bimodal curve disappears, and it happens fast.”
Planners quickly embraced Intuiflow’s visual, flow-based dashboards, which simplified decision-making and prioritized the materials that truly mattered.
“Our planners are happier and more empowered,” explained Jesús García Menéndez, Lead Process Engineer at Michelin. “They can see priorities clearly, analyze alerts more easily, and act based on real customer demand rather than forecasts.”
Intuiflow also improved communication across Michelin’s network. Plants could now synchronize with one another and respond rapidly to order changes.
“Communication with the factory is more fluid,” noted Menéndez. “We can respond immediately to modifications of firm orders.”
The Results: From Local Pilot to Global Transformation
Within months of implementation, Michelin recorded measurable, enterprise-level gains:
- 20% reduction in inventory, freeing significant working capital
- Service levels increased by 8 points, rising from 91% to 99%
- Lead times shortened by 15%
- Stabilized production schedules and reduced variability
- Planners more autonomous and satisfied, supported by clear, visual priorities
“We’ve seen a 10 to 15 percent reduction of inventory—which for Michelin is a big amount of money—and a 10 percent increase in service,” said d’Herouville. “Most importantly, our factories are now linked to real customer demand.”
What began as a single-site pilot quickly became a global rollout.
Following early success, Michelin extended Intuiflow and the DDMRP methodology across its worldwide network, aiming to transform planning at over 70 facilities.
“DDMRP is extremely visual and easy to use,” d’Herouville added. “It’s not just a new tool—it’s a new way of thinking that connects our plants directly to the people who bring money into our organization: the customers.”
Future-Proof Your Supply Chain with Intuiflow
Michelin’s transformation demonstrates how Intuiflow helps global 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
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.
