For many manufacturers, customer service challenges are not caused by a lack of effort. More often, they stem from disconnected processes, manual workarounds, and planning activities occurring outside of the ERP system. Armacell, a global leader in insulation solutions, found itself facing this challenge. According to David Cox, General Manager of Operations, customer service levels were falling short of expectations, planners were relying heavily on spreadsheets, and critical supply chain decisions required significant manual effort. The company knew it needed a different approach. By partnering with LMA Consulting Group, Armacell transformed its planning processes, improved SAP utilization, strengthened SIOP (Sales Inventory Operations Planning), also known as Integrated Business Planning (IBP), and dramatically improved customer service performance. The results speak for themselves: on-time service improved from 38% to 92%.

The Challenge: Service Levels Were Not Meeting Customer Expectations

After COVID, Armacell’s service performance results revealed a significant opportunity for improvement. Only 38% of customer orders were shipping on time. In today’s competitive manufacturing environment, customer service is often a key differentiator. Missed shipments, extended lead times, and inconsistent communication can quickly negatively impact customer confidence and future growth opportunities.

Leadership recognized that improving service would require more than short-term fixes. The organization needed stronger planning processes, better visibility, and greater alignment across the supply chain.

Moving Beyond Spreadsheets

One of the key findings was that many planning activities relied on spreadsheets and manual processes rather than leveraging the full capabilities of SAP and APO. While these workarounds helped teams manage day-to-day operations, they created inefficiencies, limited visibility, and made it difficult to scale planning processes across the organization.

LMA worked closely with Armacell’s planning team to transition critical planning activities into SAP and their advanced planning system (APS), APO, creating more streamlined and repeatable processes. The focus was not simply automation for automation’s sake. The objective was to improve data integrity, increase visibility, and provide planners with better tools to support decision-making.

Strengthening Planning Capabilities

Unlike traditional consulting engagements that focus solely on recommendations, LMA worked directly alongside planners and operational teams throughout the implementation process.

The team provided:

  • Hands-on planning support
  • SAP and APO expertise
  • Planner coaching and development
  • Process standardization
  • Capacity planning improvements
  • Data-driven decision-making tools

This collaborative approach helped accelerate improvements while simultaneously building internal capability. Rather than creating dependency on consultants, the goal was to equip the organization with the knowledge and processes necessary to sustain results independently.

Transforming the SIOP Process

As foundational planning improvements took hold, the focus expanded to strengthening Armacell’s SIOP process. The organization wanted to move away from lengthy meetings supported by spreadsheets and external reports and toward a streamlined, data-driven process supported directly by SAP.

LMA helped establish greater visibility into:

  • Demand trends and forecasts by key customers and geographies
  • Capacity requirements for bottlenecked work centers
  • Service performance and projected service gaps to address
  • Operational priorities

The result was a more focused planning process that allowed leadership to spend less time gathering information and more time making decisions. Meetings that previously required several hours became concise discussions centered on meaningful business decisions supported by reliable system data.

Delivering Measurable Results

The transformation did not occur overnight. Rather than pursuing quick fixes, Armacell and LMA focused on creating sustainable improvements that delivered consistent progress over time. Week after week, planning processes improved, visibility increased, and service performance strengthened.

The results included:

  • On-time service improvement from 38% to 92%
  • Multiple consecutive weeks above 87% service performance
  • Improved customer communication
  • Greater planning efficiency
  • Enhanced SAP and APO utilization
  • More effective SIOP discussions
  • Increased organizational alignment

Customers noticed the difference as well, providing positive feedback regarding improved communication and service performance.

Building Sustainable Success

The most important outcome was not the service improvement itself but the organization’s ability to sustain it. Throughout the engagement, LMA focused on knowledge transfer, coaching, and process ownership. The objective was to ensure that Armacell’s team could continue driving results long after the project concluded. 

By the end of the engagement, every objective established at the outset had been achieved, and the organization had the systems, processes, and capabilities necessary to maintain momentum.

Turning Planning into a Competitive Advantage

Manufacturers often invest heavily in ERP systems but struggle to fully leverage their capabilities. When planning processes become fragmented and spreadsheet-driven, service levels, productivity, and customer satisfaction can suffer. Armacell’s experience demonstrates what is possible when organizations combine strong planning processes, effective technology utilization, and cross-functional collaboration. By optimizing SAP, strengthening SIOP, and developing internal capabilities, the company transformed customer service performance and created a foundation for continued growth. At LMA Consulting Group, we help manufacturers and distributors improve planning, operational performance, and technology effectiveness to drive predictable growth, profitability, and customer success.

 

If you are interested in reading more on this topic:
Frazier Industrial: Driving Manufacturing Success

Published: September 12, 2022 | Updated: June 2, 2026