SupChains
SupChains is a Brussels-based, founder-led consultancy that builds customized ML demand forecasting and simulation-based inventory optimization models, training, and coaching for enterprise manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and software vendors worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersBrussels, Belgium
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What SupChains does
SupChains is a privately held, Brussels-based supply chain planning consultancy founded in 2016 by Nicolas Vandeput. The firm designs and delivers customized, machine-learning-based demand forecasting models and simulation-based inventory optimization models for enterprise manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and software vendors worldwide. Its core technology ingest promotional calendars, prices, shortages, sell-out sales, client inventory levels, future orders, weather data, product cannibalization, trends, and seasonality, with claimed outcomes of up to 30% forecast error reduction and up to 20% inventory reduction; models are delivered with transparent source-code access to support client maintainability. Supporting the model-implementation practice are live virtual training sessions, two Udemy courses on forecasting KPIs and inventory optimization, three published books by the founder, and a 3–5 week Demand & Inventory Planning Audit service.
The business operates as a hybrid consultancy with a community-led go-to-market: a free weekly newsletter reaching 10,000+ supply chain planning professionals, a Medium blog, a YouTube channel, and conference speaking engagements feed a direct enterprise sales motion that converts into quote-based, multi-year model implementation and coaching engagements. Revenue is generated from professional services (customized model implementation, training, coaching), one-time book sales on Amazon, and Udemy course fees; a forecast-as-a-service offering is currently in pilot with Qnity Electronics, indicating a directional shift toward recurring revenue. The company is founder-owned, bootstrapped, and small (1–10 employees), with named enterprise customers spanning pharmaceuticals (Sanofi, Camurus, Marzam), automotive (Bridgestone, Goodyear), retail (IKEA, zooplus, KitchenAid, Pernod), consumer goods (P&G, Nivea, BIC), and animal health (Animalcare, zooplus).
SupChains firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SupChains
- Legal name
- SupChains
- Website
- https://supchains.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- SupChains is a Brussels-based, founder-led consultancy that builds customized ML demand forecasting and simulation-based inventory optimization models, training, and coaching for enterprise manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and software vendors worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SupChains industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Supply Chain Planning Consulting
- NAICS
- Process, Physical Distribution, and Logistics Consulting Services (541614)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Supply Chain Planning (S&OP/IBP, Demand & Inventory) (BPAHAHAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Demand Forecasting & Inventory Optimization (HDAAAHAA)
Keywords
Where SupChains is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Brussels
- HQ country
- Belgium
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
SupChains business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations
Revenue model
- Professional Services - Customized Models: Implementation of customized forecasting and inventory models for enterprise clients. Includes scoping, data gathering, cleaning, and model creation phases.
- Training and Coaching Services: Live virtual training sessions (max 2 hours) for teams covering demand planning, statistical forecasting, supply planning, and simulation games. Also includes coaching engagements.
- Book Sales: Sale of three books published by Nicolas Vandeput: Data Science for Supply Chain Forecasting (2018, 2nd edition 2021), Inventory Optimization: Models and Simulations (2020), and Demand Forecasting Best Practices (2023). Sold through Amazon.
- Udemy Online Courses: Self-paced online courses on demand forecasting KPIs and inventory optimization available on Udemy platform.
- Newsletter Community: Free newsletter with exclusive content, free book chapters, webinars, and masterclasses. Serves as lead generation for paid services.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Udemy courses - Demand Forecasting KPIs for Supply Chain Planning |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Udemy courses - Inventory Planning: How to Optimize Inventory Policies |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Books - Available on Amazon |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Professional Services - Custom Model Implementation |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Team Training Sessions |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
SupChains product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SupChains delivers customized demand forecasting and inventory optimization models for enterprise supply chains, built on machine learning-based forecasting and simulation-based inventory techniques. The company provides implementation services, live team training, and coaching engagements, complemented by published books, self-paced online courses, and a newsletter community for supply chain planning professionals.
Product overview
SupChains offers a suite of supply chain planning solutions centered on two core products: the Demand Forecasting Model and the Inventory Planning Model. The Demand Forecasting Model is a fully automated ML-powered forecasting engine that reduces forecast error by up to 30%, while the Inventory Planning Model uses simulation-based optimization to reduce inventory by up to 20%. Supporting these core offerings are supplementary products including live training sessions, two Udemy courses on forecasting KPIs and inventory optimization, a weekly newsletter, three published books, and a planning audit service. The portfolio is tied together through consulting engagements where Nicolas Vandeput and the team deliver customized models, training, and coaching.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Demand Forecasting Model A fully automated, ML-powered forecasting model that uses promotions, shortages, prices, holidays, sell-outs, weather, cannibalization, and seasonality to reduce forecast error by up to 30%. It can forecast brand-new products before market launch and is delivered to enterprise manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.
- Inventory Planning Model A customized inventory optimization model for manufacturers, distributors, and retailers that uses data-driven simulations rather than mathematical formulas to reduce inventory by up to 20%, with source code delivered to the customer.
- Demand & Inventory Planning Audit A diagnostic service that assesses current forecasting and inventory planning processes, identifies issues such as biased stakeholder inputs and poor accuracy, and delivers a prioritized improvement roadmap within 3-5 weeks.
- Supply Chain Training Live virtual training sessions (max 2 hours) for client teams covering demand planning, statistical forecasting, supply planning, Beer Game simulation, S&OP, and Fresh Connection exercises, plus coaching engagements.
- Demand Forecasting KPIs for Supply Chain Planning (Udemy Course) A self-paced online course that teaches how to compute and evaluate forecasting metrics (RMSE, MAE, MAPE, WMAPE, Bias), including when to use each.
- Inventory Planning: How to Optimize Inventory Policies (Udemy Course) A self-paced online course that teaches how to apply inventory policies, simulate them using historical demand and forecasts, and optimize policies to balance cost and service.
- Data Science for Supply Chain Forecasting (Book) 310-page book by Nicolas Vandeput covering data science techniques applied to supply chain forecasting, sold via Amazon.
- Inventory Optimization: Models and Simulations (Book) 318-page book by Nicolas Vandeput covering inventory optimization models and simulation techniques, sold via Amazon.
- Demand Forecasting Best Practices (Book) 216-page book by Nicolas Vandeput covering best practices in demand forecasting, sold via Amazon.
Quantifiable outcome
- Reduce forecast error by up to 30%
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use SupChains
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
SupChains technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Feature5 records
SupChains partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- RitterDragoncoreSupChains partnered with RitterDragon to implement a new demand and inventory planning process for Marzam. The collaboration resulted in significant improvements: 26% inventory turns reduction and 65% shortages reduction in 19 weeks while increasing sales.
- Marquis DatacoreCollaboration with Marquis Data to introduce new forecasting approaches and refine overall demand forecasting strategy. Nicolas Vandeput coached Marquis Data leadership team to enhance their Marquis IQ Inventory Intelligence solution. Working with SupChains had measurable impact on product improvements.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
SupChains competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- SAP (SAP IBP): SAP Integrated Business Planning delivers demand planning, inventory optimization, and S&OP within the SAP ecosystem — a broad incumbent that SupChains' clients (e.g., Bridgestone, Sanofi) may evaluate against bespoke consulting engagements.
- E2open: E2open offers a connected supply chain platform that includes demand sensing and inventory optimization across multi-tier networks — a broad incumbent overlapping with SupChains' forecasting and inventory capabilities at the enterprise tier.
- Blue Yonder: Blue Yonder provides a broad Luminate platform covering demand forecasting, inventory, S&OP, and end-to-end supply chain — an established incumbent that competes with SupChains when enterprises seek integrated planning suites.
- Kinaxis: Kinaxis offers the Maestro platform for concurrent supply chain planning including demand planning and inventory optimization — a broader incumbent that competes in RFPs alongside SupChains for enterprise planning transformations.
Others
- Deloitte (Supply Chain & Operations practice): Deloitte's Supply Chain & Operations consulting practice delivers forecasting, inventory, and S&OP transformation work for global enterprises — a professional services competitor that often competes with boutique consultancies like SupChains for enterprise transformation mandates.
Direct peers
- RELEX Solutions: RELEX provides AI-driven forecasting and inventory optimization for retailers and consumer goods manufacturers, addressing the same SKU-complexity and promotional-forecasting pain points that SupChains targets in retail and distribution segments.
- o9 Solutions: o9 offers an AI-powered integrated business planning platform with demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and S&OP — overlapping SupChains' demand/inventory focus while extending into broader planning, often competing for the same enterprise buyers.
- AIMMS: AIMMS provides a supply chain optimization platform for demand planning, inventory, and S&OP using modeling and what-if analysis — a comparable planning-focused platform that competes for similar buyer personas.
- John Galt Solutions: John Galt Solutions offers demand planning, inventory optimization, and S&OP software with a focus on mid-market supply chain planning — a direct competitor to SupChains' model implementation work in the same buyer segment.
- ToolsGroup: ToolsGroup is a software vendor focused on demand sensing, statistical forecasting, and inventory optimization — directly overlapping SupChains' core ML forecasting and inventory capabilities and serving similar manufacturer/distributor/retailer buyers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
SupChains social profiles
Digital presenceSupChains financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SupChains leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
SupChains funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SupChains M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SupChains
What does SupChains do?
SupChains delivers customized demand forecasting and inventory optimization models for enterprise supply chains, built on machine learning-based forecasting and simulation-based inventory techniques. The company provides implementation services, live team training, and coaching engagements, complemented by published books, self-paced online courses, and a newsletter community for supply chain planning professionals.
Is SupChains a public or private company?
SupChains is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was SupChains founded?
SupChains was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is SupChains based?
SupChains is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, in the Europe region.
How does SupChains make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Professional Services - Customized Models are the primary driver. The others are training and Coaching Services, book Sales, udemy Online Courses and newsletter Community.
Who are SupChains's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are SAP (SAP IBP), E2open, Blue Yonder and Kinaxis. Deloitte (Supply Chain & Operations practice) is listed as an others. Direct peers are RELEX Solutions, o9 Solutions, AIMMS, John Galt Solutions and ToolsGroup.
Does SupChains have an API?
No public API is recorded for SupChains.
What industry is SupChains in?
SupChains's product category is Supply Chain Planning Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAHAD, Supply Chain Planning (S&OP/IBP, Demand & Inventory), with a secondary code of HDAAAHAA, Demand Forecasting & Inventory Optimization. Its NAICS code is 541614.