Novo Retail Partners

Context & Challenges

Novo Retail Partners, a family-owned retail group based in Lille, saw its supply chain heavily disrupted by the post-Covid crisis. The sudden rise in freight costs, combined with extreme demand volatility, caused recurring stockouts and an explosion in warehousing costs. The service rate to stores and end customers fell to 87%, threatening key contractual relationships. The executive committee called on Meridian Consulting to audit all flows and restore operational profitability.

Our Diagnostic

Our audit highlighted a critical lack of coordination between purchasing, sales, and logistics departments. Purchasing decisions were made in silos, without a consolidated view of sales forecasts. Furthermore, the distribution network was saturated with dead stock representing over 32 days of sales. Finally, the absence of a structured Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process prevented any anticipation of demand variations.

Approach & Methodology

We structured a transformation program around three major workstreams. The first consisted of designing and deploying a weekly S&OP (Sales & Operations Planning) routine bringing together sales, purchasing, and supply chain departments, supported by simple collaborative forecasting tools. The second workstream focused on the physical reorganization of flows: redefining stock allocation rules across the 3 national warehouses and implementing a dynamic sourcing policy based on safety thresholds revised in real-time. Finally, we renegotiated key transport contracts and implemented a delivery route optimization plan to reduce dependence on spot rates.

Mission Roadmap

Results Achieved

After 12 months of support, the results are clear: global logistics costs decreased by 19%, mainly thanks to the optimization of truck filling rates and the reduction of emergency storage costs. The overall service rate rose to 96%, its highest historical level. The working capital requirement was lightened by €4.8M.

Scope Exclusions