Empowering global planning with Kinaxis Maestro

The Highlights

A leading global manufacturer of automotive parts recognized the need to fully leverage its investment in Kinaxis Maestro. After a recent divestiture and operational complexity across three regional ERP systems, their team sought a reset to harmonize planning and elevate visibility. Zinata stepped in with a structured, people-centered approach to get things moving. By enhancing data quality, rebuilding task flows, and coaching planners, Zinata helped the client unlock powerful supply chain capabilities embedded within their existing system—faster than they thought possible.

The Headlines

• Company-wide S&OP process implemented
• Cross-functional planners trained and confident
• Maestro task flows fully operational
• Data validation and error resolution streamlined

The Details

Problem

Despite having Maestro in place, the client wasn’t seeing the full value of the system. A previous rollout had been paused before user adoption could take root, and recent organizational changes led to the loss of key resources familiar with the tool. The result: talented supply chain teams were left relying on spreadsheets to manage demand and allocation across global sites—while post-pandemic disruptions continued to strain operations. With three distinct ERP systems in play, the company needed a global view—something that would allow demand and supply to move fluidly between regions. They had the software. What they needed was a plan—and a partner—to bring it to life.

Solution

Zinata launched the engagement with a two-week rapid assessment, walking through core supply, demand, and inventory processes using Maestro task flows. This process surfaced critical gaps in data readiness, configuration, and user confidence.

From there, an eight-week reset focused on:

1. Data flow optimization – Resolving ERP-to-Maestro data issues through error log analysis and tailored validation workbooks.

2. User enablement – Coaching supply chain team members through refreshed task flows, completing UAT, and strengthening day-to-day Maestro usage in S&OP planning.

Results

The client made major progress within a short time frame— launching a global S&OP work process, activating core demand and supply flows, and enabling their planners to make better-informed decisions, faster. For the first time, planners had real-time visibility to global demand and supply dynamics and the ability to model and test scenarios to respond proactively to disruptions.

The outcomes were immediate and far-reaching:

• A harmonized global supply chain view
• Confident use of Maestro in planning cycles
• Reduced reliance on manual spreadsheets
• A sustainable structure for ongoing data and system ownership

A thoughtful restart – focused on people, process, and technology – can unlock the full power of a digital planning platform. Working with the client, Zinata helped drive lasting impact: not just improved system usage, but stronger resilience and greater agility across the global supply chain.