Wabash (NYSE:WNC) is the visionary leader of engineered solutions for the transportation, logistics and distribution industries. Headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana, the company provides and delivers pragmatic solutions to move everything from first to final mile. Wabash designs, manufactures, and services a diverse range of products, including dry freight and refrigerated trailers, flatbed trailers, tank trailers, dry and refrigerated truck bodies, structural composite panels and products, trailer aerodynamic solutions, and specialty food-grade processing equipment.
- The challenge: With an aggressive strategy to double its revenue in 5 years Wabash acknowledged challenges in their internal processes which compromised their ability to meet this strategic goal. Its sales, inventory and operations planning (SIOP) process was not clearly defined and broadly misunderstood; it therefore did not add value to the organization. With many issues causing day-to-day firefighting and short-notice schedule changes, Wabash struggled to reach a mid-term view that would reduce induced production turbulence.
- The solutions: SGS Maine Pointe developed and implemented a robust SIOP process and realigned business planning process by product family; integrated cross-functional teams to focus on identifying and addressing issues in the mid- and long-terms; created eight KPIs available to all stakeholders as the single source of information for streamlined decision making; and clearly defined the planning and scheduling functions to ensure proper attention to specific time horizons.
The results:
- Built sustainable SIOP process with comprehensive procedures, roles and ownership that allows for sustainable growth while maintaining process integrity
- Created the tools to manage the business through a single source of data
- Established process allows organization to effectively address unexpected changes in the market and manage it in a structured way
- Projected $2B to $4B growth