Fluidra streamlines ANZ supply chain planning with NEOS, aligning people, process and tools through a Kinaxis-powered global planning platform.
Fluidra, a manufacturer of residential and commercial pool components, has undertaken a multi-year supply chain planning transformation to assimilate how demand, supply and inventory decisions are made across its operations. In Australia and New Zealand, the program was delivered with support from NEOS by Argon & Co, a supply chain and technology consultancy and systems integration specialist. NEOS worked with Fluidra’s local supply chain team and global Centre of Excellence to implement the Kinaxis Maestro planning engine – a system focused on concurrent and constraint-based planning. The project was part of a wider global initiative to align Fluidra’s global S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning) model.
The transformation is structured around three core pillars of people, process and tools, and is intended to move the organisation away from fragmented, region-specific planning approaches. For ANZ, the goal was to move from multiple planning tools to a single system that enables consistent decisions while accommodating local requirements.
Addressing decentralised planning models
Prior to the transformation, Fluidra’s supply chain planning was largely decentralised, with regions operating independently and using different tools and methods. While this approach provided local flexibility, it limited global visibility and made it difficult to coordinate planning decisions across markets.
“We had three main regions, and each region sort of really did their own thing,” says Terry Wilson, Supply Chain Manager at Fluidra.
“When we look at it from a global perspective, we’ve got over 500 sites globally. The main thing was being able to get to a point where we could run a global S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning) process, and to do that, you really need to have a global platform.”
As the organisation grew through acquisition, this fragmentation became increasingly difficult to manage. Aligning demand, supply and inventory assumptions across regions required manual reconciliation, and planning outcomes varied depending on local tools, data structures and levels of planning maturity.
Why ANZ was prioritised
From an early stage, Australia and New Zealand were identified as priority markets within the global rollout, despite being smaller than some regions by volume.
“ANZ is one of the biggest regions for Fluidra,” Terry says. “So, it’s a key market for us.”
The region also presented distinct planning challenges. Long inbound lead times into Australia needed to be balanced against customer expectations for rapid order fulfilment, creating ongoing tension between inventory levels, service performance and responsiveness. Terry explains that Fluidra’s average inbound lead time into Australia is around four months, but the order book typically extends to no more than a few weeks at any given time.
“We’ve got long lead times, but a customer base that demands orders that are placed today, delivered today and sent tomorrow,” Terry says.
This environment increased the need for a planning platform capable of exposing risk early, testing scenarios quickly and supporting informed trade-offs across demand, supply and inventory.
From fragmented tools to a single planning layer
Fluidra’s acquisition strategy added further complexity. Over time, the organisation inherited multiple ERP environments across several regions.
“The company has grown a lot by acquisition over the last five to six years,” Terry says. “With those acquisitions comes different ERPs. Even if we’ve had the same ERP, we have different versions throughout the world.”
Rather than attempting to replace ERPs, Fluidra introduced a standardised planning layer through Kinaxis to sit above existing transactional systems. This approach allowed the organisation to standardise planning processes and logic while continuing to operate heterogeneous ERP environments underneath.
Before implementation, supply planning in ANZ relied on a combination of Excel spreadsheets, ERP outputs and Power BI reporting, with no single system supporting end-to-end planning or structured scenario analysis.
“We never really had a core platform to do supply planning,” Terry says. “It was a combination of Excel spreadsheets, our ERP and Power BI.”
A critical enabler of the transformation was improving master data quality and governance. Consistent item hierarchies, lead times, sourcing rules and planning parameters were required to ensure the planning engine produced reliable outputs. This work ran in parallel with system implementation and process design, reinforcing the principle that technology alone would not resolve planning challenges without disciplined data and process foundations.
NEOS’ role in the ANZ implementation
NEOS supported Fluidra as the implementation partner for the ANZ rollout, working closely with both the local supply chain team and Fluidra’s global Centre of Excellence. A key objective was ensuring the region adopted the global planning model without creating bespoke configurations that would be difficult to maintain over time.
“You want a global model template which makes it easier to maintain,” says Nathan Singhavong, Practice Lead at NEOS. “If you’re diagnosing something, you’re diagnosing it the same way, no matter which region it is.”
NEOS facilitated workshops with the ANZ planning team to document existing processes across demand planning, inventory management and optimisation, and supply planning. These processes were mapped against the global Kinaxis design to identify gaps and regional requirements.
“We sat down with Terry and walked through the as-is processes for manufacturing, distribution planning and processing,” Nathan says. “We then created a couple of tailored user stories specific to ANZ.”
Those use cases were reviewed with Fluidra’s global architects and incorporated into the standard model where appropriate, avoiding regional divergence while ensuring operational relevance.
Configuration, testing and change adoption
While the core planning model had already been deployed in EMEA, additional configuration and validation were required for ANZ. NEOS supported system configuration, data validation and testing to ensure planning outputs reflected real operating conditions. With DILO (day in the life of) testing following a standard UAT process, planners were able to build upon the fundamentals of the tool and begin parallel validation of supply outcomes.
This approach supported change management by allowing planners to understand system behaviour, validate numbers and build trust in outputs before the platform became business critical.
Supporting decision-making at scale
The ANZ supply chain manages more than 15,000 SKUs across finished goods, parts and spare parts. In this environment, even small changes in demand or supply assumptions can have material impacts on inventory exposure and service performance.
The new planning environment allows planners to identify risks earlier, assess trade-offs more quickly and understand the downstream implications of decisions across planning horizons. This has reduced reliance on manual workarounds and improved visibility across demand, supply and inventory.
While forecast accuracy improvements have been incremental, Terry notes that responsiveness, scenario capability and confidence in planning outputs have been equally important outcomes.
For Fluidra, the ANZ implementation forms part of a broader shift in how supply chain planning is governed globally. The focus is on embedding consistent processes, data standards and tools that can scale as complexity increases.
By aligning ANZ with the global planning model and consolidating planning activities into a single platform, Fluidra has established a foundation for continued improvement. The project demonstrates how a global planning framework can be applied locally, with NEOS supporting the translation of global design into practical, operational outcomes for the ANZ business.
“The big thing for us is being able to understand exactly where our constraints are,” Terry says. “Not just in the lines that produce our finished goods, but in all downstream activities.”
