JJA optimizes its product margins and calculates its cost prices.

Nicolas Souraqui, Director of Supply Chain at JJA, a family-owned ETI specializing in the creation, manufacturing, import, and distribution of decorative and utility items for the home, shares insights on the successful optimization of their supply chain through Winddle. Six years after joining JJA following his experience at Decathlon, Nicolas Souraqui now heads their supply chain.

Navigating complex supply chains

JJA's supply chain journey is complex, involving the manufacturing and assembly of objects in Asia, followed by transport to Europe for professional clients. With rapidly changing product ranges, strong seasonality, and complete production cycles of about 7 months, from the development phase of an object to its delivery, challenges abound. Hence, the need for constant visibility on the location and quantity of goods to achieve the company's ambitious service goals.

Transforming a black box into a transparent flow

To address the opacity of order flow, continuous information from order validation to receipt is critical. Coordinating multiple stakeholders, including suppliers and carriers, is essential. The order flow resembles a significant black box, highlighting the challenge of achieving smooth information flow among many contributors.

Advanced Planning System

Five years ago, JJA embarked on its journey to optimize the supply chain, actively involving business stakeholders. Nicolas Souraqui emphasizes the importance of implementing an Advanced Planning System (APS) as a crucial first step in optimizing the logistics chain. The APS allows precise description and structuring of the procurement process, paving the way for optimization efforts in flow execution.

Balancing: Cost, time, and quality

Nicolas Souraqui believes in two key triads: cost-time-quality, entirely under the responsibility of the supply chain director, and the combination of business organization, processes, and tools. Tools, especially software, play a supporting role in translating strategy into action. However, the chosen software solution should not restrict discussion but rather generate questions, facilitate debates, propose ideas, and encourage experimentation.

A collaborative and flexible solution

JJA engaged in an iterative process with a consulting firm (Axoma consultants), seeking constructive criticism and highlighting the strengths of a differentiated approach. Winddle emerged as the preferred partner due to its native collaborative approach, structuring end-to-end business exchanges with granularity at each step. Winddle's adaptability and user-friendliness aligned perfectly with JJA's current and future needs.

The company underscores the importance of a flexible tool capable of accurately describing handled objects, orders, and flows. Winddle's ability to effectively track order execution and incorporate changes proved particularly relevant. The tool's capacity to capture information and adapt to uncertainties, enabling business teams to focus on problem management and resolution, was a key factor in choosing Winddle.

JJA teams, including IT, collaborated iteratively with Winddle, aligning with evolving business discussions and requirements. Winddle provides JJA employees with a user-friendly interface, allowing them to associate each object with its process, from order to delivery, through the manufacturing phase.

Convincing supply chain partners

For subcontractors, manufacturers, or carriers, the availability of the solution in SaaS mode facilitates quick integration with their information systems. A collaborative and easily integrable solution like Winddle strengthens relationships with suppliers who understand priorities and willingly participate in the optimization process.

Nicolas Souraqui concludes: "A collaborative and easy-to-integrate solution like Winddle facilitates relationships with suppliers who understand our priorities and play along more easily." The successful implementation of Winddle by JJA marks a transformative step towards greater visibility and efficiency in their complex supply chain.

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