Mathieu Salas
Competence Centre | Sonepar Holding
"We have aligned our tools and practices across over 20 countries. We are already seeing stronger availability and better stock quality across the board."
To unlock greater efficiency and scalability across its international operations, Sonepar, the world’s leading B2B distributor of electrical products, turned to Slimstock for a smarter approach to supply chain planning. By implementing Slimstock’s solution, Sonepar has aligned its planning processes across more than 20 entities, empowering local teams with global visibility and enabling the Group to deliver better service while reducing excess stock.
Sonepar is an independent, family-owned group and the global market leader in the B2B distribution of electrical products, solutions, and related services. With operations in more than 40 countries and over 45,000 associates, Sonepar combines local knowledge with global reach to serve the needs of professional customers.
Founded in 1969 by Henri Coisne and his brothers, the company has grown steadily while staying true to its entrepreneurial roots and long-term values. In 2024, Sonepar achieved €32.5 billion in global sales, operating through 2,400 branches and 190 distribution centres. The Group is firmly positioned at the heart of the digital and energy transitions, embracing the opportunities presented by rapid technological advancement and the rising demand for smarter, greener energy systems.
To enhance collaboration and improve supply chain performance across its widespread operations, Sonepar Group turned to Slimstock. By implementing solution, Sonepar has brought consistency to its planning processes and unlocked significant improvements in stock quality and product availability.
Challenge
As a decentralised organisation with autonomous entities in each country, Sonepar previously faced a fragmented approach to supply chain planning. Different systems and working methods made it difficult to align processes or benchmark performance effectively.
From Sonepar’s Competence Centre, Mathieu Salas explains: “Each country had its own way of working. This made it hard to build a common language around supply chain performance. We needed a solution that could help us standardise our planning tools without losing the local insight that drives our business.”
The need for a unified platform became even more pressing as the Group focused on improving stock efficiency, maintaining high service levels, and laying the foundations for long-term scalability.
Results
Since introducing Slim4 across the Group, Sonepar has rolled the solution out to over 20 entities, with several more in the pipeline.
“Even though each country implemented Slimstock at a different time, the results have been remarkably consistent,” says Mathieu. “We’ve seen improvements in stock quality across the board, and availability levels are rising steadily.”
By using a centralised planning tool that supports local execution, Sonepar’s teams are now able to make more informed decisions based on a standard set of metrics while retaining flexibility in their day-to-day operations.
Sonepar France collaboration
Sonepar France experienced the same supply chain challenges as the wider business. Therefore, it adopted the solution following the parent company’s transformation. Christine Bidault, Sales Forecast Manager at Sonepar France, explains: “Following the creation of large logistics centres, we moved from stock management with small profit centres to centralised stock management in a warehouse that carries out restocking for our sales agencies.”
A unified approach to planning
With Slim4, Sonepar France now benefits from a standardised approach to forecasting, replenishment, and inventory management. By establishing a consistent planning framework, the Group can compare performance more easily, share best practices, and accelerate the onboarding of new countries.
“Slim4 has become a key enabler of cross-country collaboration. Our planners now speak the same language, and we are able to roll out improvements at scale,” adds Mathieu.
The platform’s intelligent algorithms provide deep visibility into demand trends and stock performance, helping teams reduce excess stock while maintaining optimal availability. Christine highlights: “We have greatly improved the quality of the company’s inventory. We now have a stock quality in our warehouses that is, I would say, almost top-notch.”
Next steps
Looking ahead, Sonepar’s supply chain priorities focus on efficiency and customer satisfaction. “Like many businesses, we want to reduce working capital while continuing to improve service. Slimstock gives us the tools to do both, not just in one country, but across the entire Group,” concludes Mathieu.
From Sonepar France, the future looks just as bright: “Ultimately, it is all about satisfying our customers. We aim to establish a true S&OP process. We currently have what could be described as mini-S&OPs for each product category, but our goal is to implement a more integrated and cohesive approach in the future.”
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