Case Study: Invitrogen achieves improved forecasting and inventory control for 10,000+ SKUs with Demand Solutions

Keeping Bio Technology Researchers Supplied with Materials for Their Labs

Invitrogen, a global biotechnology company with about 40,000 products and more than 5,000 employees, faced a complex supply-chain challenge: forecasting both individual components and assembled kits across thousands of SKUs (stocked SKUs grew from 2,500 to 10,000 in two years) while supporting diverse product lifecycles and shipping requirements. To address this complexity, Invitrogen uses Demand Solutions, including Demand Solutions Forecast Management, integrated with its JD Edwards EnterpriseOne ERP to manage forecasts and replenishment at both kit and component levels.

Demand Solutions helped Invitrogen move forecasting input from historical sales to customer orders, improving forecast accuracy by capturing unfilled demand, and provided drill-down and filtering tools to manage the expanding SKU base. With Demand Solutions’ FM and ERP interfaces, planners can review forecasts with marketing, manage exceptions, and better support growth—outcomes include improved forecast accuracy (notably in U.S. sites), tighter replenishment control, and the ability to scale as SKUs increased; Demand Solutions remains a critical part of Invitrogen’s inventory management.

Invitrogen

Jim Carswell

Materials Manager for Europe