How Elon is modernizing its forecasting and replenishment operations in partnership with re:innovation

In a retail environment defined by increasing complexity and fast‑changing demand patterns, Elon Group AB, one of the largest independent retailers of home electronics and household appliances in the Nordics, took a strategic step toward modernizing its forecasting and replenishment processes. Partnering with re:innovation as implementation and consulting lead and deploying the RELEX Forecast & Replenishment solution, Elon set out to replace legacy planning methods with a scalable, data‑driven framework designed to support long‑term growth across a highly complex, multi‑channel organization. 

This transformation marked a significant step in strengthening Elon’s supply chain capabilities, improving availability, and reducing inventory exposure - delivered within a notably strong six‑month implementation timeline for a transformation of this scale. Led by re:innovation as implementation and consulting partner, the project combined disciplined execution with close, transparent collaboration between teams, enabling Elon to move from reactive execution to proactive, insight‑driven decision‑making while ensuring stability, business readiness, and long‑term scalability from day one. 

 

From legacy planning to a future‑ready supply chain 

Prior to the project, Elon was operating with an outdated planning setup that relied on a high degree of human intervention. While functional in the short term, this approach limited forecast accuracy beyond the immediate horizon, increased operational effort, and constrained Elon’s ability to respond dynamically to changing demand patterns. 

As the business continued to expand across multiple sales channels, assortments, and international markets, these limitations became increasingly visible. High inventory values, stock‑out situations, and limited end‑to‑end visibility highlighted the need for a more automated, resilient, and scalable planning model. 

The decision to transform the forecasting and replenishment landscape was driven by clear business priorities: reducing inventory value, improving availability, increasing automation, and building a future‑proof planning foundation, with RELEX Forecast & Replenishment selected as the core platform to support these objectives and enable scalable, data‑driven planning across the organization. 

Clear objectives and a shared definition of success 

From the beginning, the project was aligned around well‑defined business objectives. Elon aimed to lower inventory levels, improve forecast accuracy, increase availability, reduce manual effort, and strengthen the organization’s understanding and use of data. 

Success was measured not only through technical delivery, but through business adoption and stability at go‑live. Accurate forecasts and order proposals, strong user acceptance, and alignment with agreed KPIs were key success criteria. Core performance indicators included inventory turnover (value), forecast accuracy, proposal usage, and availability - ensuring focus remained on tangible business outcomes. 

A focused scope built for complexity 

The implementation covered forecasting and replenishment for Elon’s central distribution center, 12 sales channels, and 12 own stores, with thousands of active SKUs, supporting a wide range of planning processes including forecasting, replenishment, integrated supply chain planning, promotions and events, seasonal planning, and wholesale channel planning. 

To manage this complexity and minimize risk, re:innovation led a phased implementation approach, supported by clear assumptions, strict prioritization, and continuous alignment on business impact. 

From Elon’s perspective, the project was not only about replacing a planning system, but about strengthening internal capabilities and ways of working. „This project has been one of the most strategically important digital transformations for our supply chain. The partnership between Elon, re:innovation and RELEX Solutions ensured that we not only delivered the implementation successfully but also strengthened our internal capabilities. The transparency, structured communication, and commitment from all teams made it possible to navigate complexity while keeping our operational goals at the center”, says Onur Dogay, Chief Procurement Officer Elon Group AB. 

A collaborative delivery model led by re:innovation 

The project was delivered through close collaboration between Elon’s supply chain, business, and IT teams, re:innovation’s consulting and implementation experts, and RELEX Solutions as technology partner, operating under a joint governance structure.  

Collaboration was structured through hands‑on workshops, regular alignment meetings, and clearly defined escalation paths. Clear roles, transparent communication, shared objectives, and joint decision‑making enabled fast issue resolution and ensured steady progress throughout the project. Strategic direction and key decisions were aligned in monthly steering committee meetings, while weekly status reviews and additional daily touchpoints during critical phases ensured execution stayed on track. 

Super users - internal business subject‑matter experts from Elon and in‑house owners of the RELEX solution - played a critical role throughout the project, with particularly strong involvement during the technical implementation and user acceptance testing phases. “Their engagement in data validation, scenario testing, feedback cycles, and issue resolution was essential to ensuring solution relevance and business readiness. This project was a success not only because of the solution delivered, but because of the strong collaboration with the Elon team. Their involvement, seriousness, and willingness to work closely together were key to achieving the desired outcomes. I would like to sincerely thank everyone involved — it was a pleasure and a great collaboration from start to finis.“ says Bianca Costea, Senior Project Manager, re:innovation. 

re:innovation acted as implementation partner and project integrator, taking full ownership of delivery and coordination across all project phases. Drawing on deep retail and supply chain expertise, the team translated Elon’s business objectives into a practical, scalable implementation framework, while ensuring alignment between business requirements, system configuration, and operational realities. Throughout the project, re:innovation led execution, governance, and risk management, applying proven RELEX best practices to deliver a stable go‑live, high user adoption, and a solid foundation for long‑term optimization. 

“The project was delivered successfully and according to plan. Working with the re:innovation team was efficient thanks to their clear communication, solid understanding of our business, and structured approach. Their ability to adapt to our requirements and maintain momentum throughout the project contributed to a smooth implementation. Overall, this was a well‑executed digital initiative for Elon “, says Fredrik Pettersson, Operational Purchasing & Demand Planning Manager, Elon Group AB. 

 

Execution, go‑live, and operational stability 

The implementation was completed end‑to‑end in approximately six months - a notably strong delivery timeline for a forecasting and replenishment transformation of this scale and complexity. Large‑scale RELEX Forecast & Replenishment initiatives are typically delivered in phased rollouts, with initial go‑lives followed by extended stabilization and expansion phases. Delivering a full multi‑channel, multi‑market implementation within this timeframe required tight execution, strong governance, and close coordination across business, data, and technology layers, while maintaining a clear focus on quality, stability, and user readiness. 

The project followed four main phases up to go‑live: project initiation and specification, technical implementation, business configuration, and user acceptance testing and training. 

Early phases focused on establishing a clear understanding of Elon’s existing processes, data landscape, and operational challenges - a critical foundation for execution. As with most large‑scale retail transformations, data quality and alignment between ERP systems and the planning platform represented a major challenge. These were addressed through close collaboration, joint problem‑solving, and transparent decision‑making between teams. 

Go‑live was carefully planned and tightly coordinated. While the final phase required a high level of joint effort, strong governance, clear ownership, and close cooperation between Elon and re:innovation ensured a controlled and successful transition to the new operating model.“The Elon project demonstrates the strength of our team. Delivering a complex implementation within a compressed timeline required strong ownership, and disciplined execution. Europe is a strategic focus for re:innovation, and we support our clients with experienced teams that combine strong delivery capabilities and deep functional expertise. This approach is what differentiates re:innovation, and the Elon project is a strong example of it”, says Tiberiu Stan, PMO of re:innovation.  

Outcomes, learnings, and what comes next 

One of the key strengths of the project was the combination of a structured, phased delivery approach and strong engagement from both Elon and re:innovation throughout the entire lifecycle. At the same time, the transformation highlighted the importance of early data focus, clear ownership, and readiness to evolve from legacy, manual processes toward higher levels of automation. 

Beyond immediate operational improvements, the project strengthened the long‑term partnership between Elon and re:innovation. With a modern planning foundation now in place, discussions are already underway around additional capabilities and continuous improvement and value development , supporting Elon’s ongoing journey toward a more resilient, efficient, and data‑driven supply chain.