Roland DG is a Japanese company specializing in motion-control technology, including for digital printing, milling machines and dental equipment. Its major supply-chain challenges stem from the global nature of the organization, says Pekar, with subsidiaries all over the world.

Meeting customer demand is Roland’s number-one priority. The challenge has become even more intense with the company’s transformation from a provider of computer peripherals to digital-oriented products, designed for unique market segments.

“Digital solutions need to meet constantly changing demand from customers,” says Pekar. “Flexibility and agility are the key.”

Roland wanted to bring together the entire organization, moving away from a structure whereby it manufactured product and pushed it out to market from individual subsidiaries. It needed a supply-chain planning tool that could “connect the dots.” At the same time, the company had to undergo significant organizational change.

Roland deployed the RapidResponse application from Kinaxis, which allowed it to address the planning challenge in smaller portions, “breaking it up to the right size – so that we can focus on the smallest deliverables involving all the teams,” says Pekar.

The company had no problem getting buy-in from the various parties. “The vision at executive level is one of connecting the whole supply chain up,” Pekar says. At the same time, “connecting all the planning centers together and going through cultural change will continue to be a challenge.”

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