Tereos Sugar & Energy Brazil Improves its S&OP Process with Optimization Technology

About Tereos

Tereos Sugar & Energy Brazil is a subsidiary of the Tereos Group, the second largest sugar producer worldwide and a leader in the alcohol and starch markets. The French cooperative Group is a union of 12,000 farmers and has recognized knowhow in the processing of beet, sugarcane and cereals. Through 49 industrial sites in 17 countries and the commitment of its 25,000 employees, the Group achieved a turnover of €5 billion in 2017-2018. In Brazil, the company commercializes sugar and energy products, supplying the consumer market under the well-known
Guarani brand.

Problem

In the agribusiness space, companies struggle with several planning challenges. Supply chain flows are extended over a long period of time. There is an extensive horizon between the date of a supply decision (for instance, purchasing fertilizers) and its final result (the sale of the processed and packaged product). Raw material forecasting is difficult as climate conditions, pests and other natural forces impact its availability. Many of these factors are difficult to control and predict. Forecasting demand for agribusiness products is also challenging. Product prices are intricately connected to international stock exchanges, climate conditions and macro-economic indicators. To add to this complexity, there is rising competition in the market. To ensure that the correct decisions are made in an agile way, considering all of these intricacies and trade-offs, Tereos Sugar & Energy Brazil was looking to support its S&OP process with optimization technology. They chose UniSoma, an AIMMS implementation partner, to assist them in the development of a tool set and choose AIMMS as their platform.

Solution

UniSoma and Tereos built three AIMMS-based applications. Using these Apps, Tereos can generate scenarios to optimize their entire chain, from the cane fields to the customer. Tereos’ team can generate over 30 different business scenarios in an easy-to-use environment, considering over 1.3 million operational and commercial variables. The outputs provided by the system are used during S&OP meetings to support decisions that bring the greatest possible financial return to the business and mitigate risks.

Results

Implementing this AIMMS-based tool set helped to facilitate collaboration between business units, making S&OP meetings more engaging and effective.

• Improved planning accuracy and agility

• More collaboration and planning integration

“AIMMS helped Tereos Brazil reach the next level of S&OP maturity. On the friendly, easy-to-use environment of our tailor-made tool, we can run several complex business scenarios with agility and foster collaboration from all the key areas of our company to reach the maximum financial result.” – André Margoto, Logistics and S&OP Executive Manager at Tereos Brazil

Solution implemented by AIMMS partner: