What demand planning challenges was Saint-Gobain Sekurit facing?

Saint-Gobain Sekurit AGR, the Automotive Glass Replacement division of the €46.6 billion Saint-Gobain group, manages a specialized Supply Chain for replacement automotive glass: 3 manufacturing plants in Europe, one central distribution hub, 30 local distribution centers, and 10,000+ glass references (4,000 windshields, 1,500 rear windows, 5,000 side windows) for an annual volume of 2.5 million pieces. Before Flowlity, the division operated with multiple ERP systems across its network, which made it nearly impossible to consolidate demand signals into a coherent forecast. Planning relied on cumbersome manual spreadsheets that were error-prone and impossible to scale across 10,000+ references. The forecasting approach used macro-level sales estimates rather than granular SKU-level predictions, which generated systematic errors that cascaded through the entire Supply Chain. Without accurate demand signals, the team had no anticipation capability for seasonal peaks or portfolio shifts. The combined effect was a service level that left significant room for improvement, with stockouts occurring more frequently than acceptable and the seasonality of the automotive glass market amplifying forecasting errors.