How Anaplan Helps Balton Trading Asia Accurately Forecast Demand in Uzbekistan

In Uzbekistan’s fast-growing FMCG market, accurate planning is the key to effective distribution. Out-of-stocks, overstocks, and expired products directly impact sales, loyalty, and budgets. That’s why Balton Trading Asia — the largest FMCG distributor in Uzbekistan — became the first in the region to implement Anaplan, a cloud-based integrated planning platform.

Why traditional planning doesn’t work for distribution

Seasonality, promotions, e-commerce, and the growth of retail chains have made distribution increasingly complex. Excel models can’t provide the transparency, speed, and accuracy that modern distributors need. The market demands digital solutions.

What is Anaplan and how does it transform distribution?

Anaplan is a cloud-based platform for integrated business planning. It connects:

• demand forecasting;

• purchasing and logistics;

• budgeting and sales planning;

• real-time supply chain management.

The platform synchronizes the efforts of purchasing, logistics, trade marketing, and sales teams — critical for FMCG distribution.

How it works in practice

Every month, Anaplan processes thousands of SKUs across the country, analyzing:

• seasonal demand fluctuations;

• promotional and market changes;

• stock levels at warehouses and retail outlets;

• regional logistics loads.

Based on these insights, accurate purchase orders are generated and synchronized in real time with supply, warehouse, and trade marketing systems. This prevents stockouts and excess inventory.

Balton Trading Asia — a pioneer with Anaplan

In 2022, Balton Trading Asia became the first distributor in Central Asia to implement Anaplan, as part of its digital transformation strategy. The results:

• 2× reduction in stockouts (OOS);

• 20% reduction in inventory and near-zero expiry losses;

• synchronized operations across the supply chain;

• full integration with internal WMS and 1C ERP systems, and direct integration with SAP Korzinka/uz — the leading Uzbek retail chain.

Modern distribution is all about data, speed, and precision. Balton Trading Asia has shown that investments in tools like Anaplan elevate a distributor from an operator to a strategic partner.

“We were the first to implement this tool in the region — and we’re already seeing improved supply chain performance.”