Case Study
Lladró and Imperia: greater demand precision to optimise stock and working capital
Published: June 15, 2026
Lladró, the Valencia-based brand and global icon in artistic porcelain, needed to improve its demand planning in a particularly complex environment: a wide catalogue, a presence in over 120 countries, strong seasonality, and high-value handcrafted products.
With the implementation of SCP, Lladró has moved from a more reactive approach to a more anticipatory, analytical, and collaborative planning model. The tool has enabled them to improve Demand Forecast Accuracy (DFA) by more than 20%, increase forecast visibility across the company, and advance the optimisation of stock and working capital.
"Imperia has helped us enormously — this DFA indicator has allowed us to improve it by more than 20%." Juan Alegre, Business Controller at Lladró
Valencian craftsmanship with a global presence
Founded in 1953, Lladró designs, manufactures, and distributes from its single factory in Valencia. The company has evolved from its more traditional sculptures towards new product lines, incorporating lighting, design, and decorative proposals tailored to different markets.
Today, Lladró distributes in over 120 countries, combining global products with more local references.
Dates such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and Christmas are key moments for the company, as a large share of its products are purchased as gifts and customers expect to find them available at the right time.
Collaboration and a data culture
Beyond forecast accuracy, SCP has helped Lladró strengthen collaboration between departments. Marketing, sales, production, manufacturing, and controlling now work from the same database and a shared demand. This has increased forecast visibility and made it the starting point for the entire value chain, enabling a more aligned S&OP cycle and more strategic decision-making.
"The main thing Imperia has given us is the alignment of different departments. Working from a single shared database to make the company's strategic decisions is fundamental for us." Martina Zapater, Demand and Pricing Planner at Lladró
The challenge: forecasting demand for high-value products
Demand planning at Lladró was shaped by three major factors: seasonality, the breadth of the catalogue, and the long production lead times associated with an artisanal process.
A forecast below demand could trigger stock-outs in the middle of a sales campaign. A forecast above demand could generate overstock in high-value products, tying up capital and reducing financial efficiency.
Why Imperia: precision, flexibility, and support
Imperia and Lladró work together to improve day by day
"From the very first minute, the Imperia team was behind us, in direct contact with our systems and integration team. It's a company that starts with you and doesn't leave you on your own along the way." Juan Alegre, Business Controller at Lladró
Lladró chose Imperia for:
- The calculation power of the tool and its ability to adapt to the reality of a company with highly specific processes.
- The team needed a solution that automated forecast building and allowed them to spend more time on analysis, review, and improvement of the forecast.
- The flexibility of the Imperia team was key to adapting the tool to their products, markets, launches, and product life cycles.
Tangible results: greater precision and improved working capital
"A 20–25 point improvement in demand accuracy makes a real difference in terms of working capital and the financial efficiency and sustainability of Lladró." Alejandro Albacar, Controlling & IT Manager at Lladró
The implementation of SCP has had a direct impact on the way Lladró plans its demand and makes production, inventory, and sales decisions.
- +20% improvement in DFA, increasing forecast reliability.
- Greater forecast visibility across the company.
- Stock optimisation, aligned with the inventory reduction strategy.
- Improved working capital, thanks to more precise planning and better control of tied-up capital.
- More time for analysis, reducing the manual burden associated with data preparation.
In a company where production lead times are long and the artisanal component is at the core of the process, detecting risks early is essential.
With SCP, Lladró can work with adjustable parameters based on seasonality, sales peaks, or market behaviour, as well as track KPIs such as DFA, RMSE, and demand deviations.
A solution tailored to Lladró's unique characteristics
"Lladró is a company with many unique characteristics, and those characteristics gradually affect the demand forecasting process as well."
Alejandro Albacar, Controlling & IT Manager at Lladró
Request a free demoLladró combines established products with new launches, global and local references, specific life cycles, and different behaviours depending on category, price, and market. The flexibility of SCP has made it possible to adapt planning to this reality, combining historical data, behaviour curves, launch adjustments, and expert business knowledge.
"The implementation of SCP has allowed us to move from a more reactive planning approach to one with far greater anticipation and deviation control."
Martina Zapater, Demand and Pricing Planner at Lladró
How can Imperia help your business?
The Lladró case demonstrates that improving demand forecasting has a direct impact on inventory, service levels, working capital, and the ability to make better decisions.
If your company works with high-value products, seasonal campaigns, frequent launches, or markets with different behaviours, SCP can help you anticipate demand, reduce uncertainty, and align all teams around a single shared database.
Request a free demo and discover how to improve the accuracy of your planning with Imperia.
Do you want to boost the efficiency of your supply chain?
Contact us and discover how Imperia can help you make the leap your business needs.