Maxion İnci Wheel Group is Europe’s largest single-location aluminum and steel wheel producer for passenger, light commercial and heavy commercial vehicles. Planning was becoming a race against complexity. With delivery windows becoming tighter and operations becoming increasingly difficult to coordinate, the planning team needed a more effective approach. What did it take to regain speed, visibility, and control, all at once? Read on to know!
Maxion İnci and Maxion Jantas are the joint venture companies of the world’s largest wheel producer, Maxion Wheels, and İnci Holding. Maxion İnci Wheel Group is Europe’s largest single-location producer of aluminum and steel wheels for passenger, light commercial, and heavy commercial vehicles, with six plants under its umbrella. The group has an annual total production capacity of 13 million wheels.
As their business grew, adding new products, expanding lines, and increasing output, so did the complexity behind the scenes. What once worked in spreadsheets and scattered files was now slowing them down. The planning team knew it was time for a change.
With separate schedules for casting and machining, building an end-to-end production plan could take days. The team wanted to speed things up so they could to respond to shifting demand without the usual delays or back-and-forth.
As product variety grew, so did the challenge of keeping everything aligned—capacity, orders, constraints, and delivery timelines. The goal was simple: stay ahead of problems instead of reacting after the fact.
Much of the process relied on the expertise of individual planners. That meant critical knowledge wasn’t always documented, and mistakes could slip through. Maxion İnci Wheel Group wanted to move toward a smarter, more automated way of working, where decisions were backed by the system, not just spreadsheets.
Make Planning & Scheduling Faster and More Responsive
With separate schedules for casting and machining, building an end-to-end production plan could take days. The team wanted to speed things up so they could respond to shifting demand without the usual delays or back-and-forth.
Gain Better Control and Visibility Over the Supply Chain
As product variety grew, so did the challenge of keeping everything aligned—capacity, orders, constraints, and delivery timelines. The goal was simple: stay ahead of problems instead of reacting after the fact.
Reduce Reliance on Manual Work
Much of the process relied on the expertise of individual planners. That meant critical knowledge wasn’t always documented, and mistakes could slip through. Maxion İnci Wheel Group wanted to move toward a smarter, more automated way of working, where decisions were backed by the system, not just spreadsheets.
Planning in automotive manufacturing isn’t just about dates and deadlines; it’s a constant balancing act. For Maxion İnci Wheel Group, that challenge was amplified by increasing production complexity, tight delivery windows, and the need to orchestrate machining and casting operations with zero room for error. But behind the scenes, the planning team was wrestling with invisible friction. Systems and processes couldn’t keep up with the speed and scale of operations. The planning process was effective to a certain extent. As the scale increased, friction started to show.
With every new product, model, and shift in customer demand, planning processes based on Excel files grew more cumbersome and harder to manage over time. Managing multiple disconnected sheets across casting and machining meant even the most minor updates could take hours, and version control was always a risk.
Like every production process, Maxion İnci Wheel Group also had constraints. Some customer orders couldn’t be run simultaneously. Certain machines couldn’t process specific combinations. However, scaled up, it became nearly impossible to model such complex production constraints within an Excel-based planning process. When edge cases slipped through the cracks, they would show up as shop floor disruptions or additional costs.
In a centralized planning system, the brilliance lies in the system itself, not in personal expertise. Planners with years of hands-on experience were shouldering the planning process at Maxion İnci Wheel Group. Although they had done a remarkable job for years, the growing pressure was beginning to affect the planning system.
Spreadsheet-Based Planning
With every new product, model, and shift in customer demand, planning processes based on Excel files grew more cumbersome and harder to manage over time. Managing multiple disconnected sheets across casting and machining meant even the most minor updates could take hours, and version control was always a risk.
Lack of Constraint-Awareness
Like every production process, Maxion İnci Wheel Group also had constraints. Some customer orders couldn’t be run simultaneously. Certain machines couldn’t process specific combinations. However, scaled up, it became nearly impossible to model such complex production constraints within an Excel-based planning process. When edge cases slipped through the cracks, they would show up as shop floor disruptions or additional costs.
Dependency on Human Expertise
In a centralized planning system, the brilliance lies in the system itself, not in personal expertise. Planners with years of hands-on experience were shouldering the planning process at Maxion İnci Wheel Group. Although they had done a remarkable job for years, the growing pressure was beginning to affect the planning system.
Fixing the symptoms wouldn’t suffice, Maxion İnci Wheel Group needed a genuine solution that could handle the depth and complexity of their production environment. That’s where ICRON stepped in. Our decision intelligence solutions empowered the planning and decision-making system at Maxion Inci Wheel Group. By implementing the ICRON Production Scheduling platform, Maxion İnci Wheel Group was able to move from reactive planning to synchronized, constraint-aware decision-making without guesswork.
Previously, casting and machining schedules were prepared separately, often on different days. With ICRON, both workflows were integrated into a synchronized workflow. Now, Maxion İnci Wheel Group can generate coordinated, end-to-end production plans within a day. This enables them to respond faster to demand shifts while maintaining alignment across all operations.
ICRON provides real-time variance analysis, helping the planning team instantly identify gaps in supply or risks of overproduction. With system-driven validations and automated reporting frameworks in place, the team gains consistent control and timely feedback, giving them the ability to stay ahead of problems instead of chasing them.
Manual spreadsheet work and constant checks are now a thing of the past. ICRON automates key validations and produces essential reports such as setup counts and Days of Inventory on Hand with minimal effort. This shift has enabled data-driven decision-making, reduced errors, and allowed planners to focus more on strategic work.
Fully Synchronized Unified Planning
Previously, casting and machining schedules were prepared separately, often on different days. With ICRON, both workflows were integrated into a synchronized workflow. Now, Maxion İnci Wheel Group can generate coordinated, end-to-end production plans within a day. This enables them to respond faster to demand shifts while maintaining alignment across all operations.
Live Visibility and Control
ICRON provides real-time variance analysis, helping the planning team instantly identify gaps in supply or risks of overproduction. With system-driven validations and automated reporting frameworks in place, the team gains consistent control and timely feedback, giving them the ability to stay ahead of problems instead of chasing them.
From Manual to Intelligent Automation
Manual spreadsheet work and constant checks are now a thing of the past. ICRON automates key validations and produces essential reports such as setup counts and Days of Inventory on Hand with minimal effort. This shift has enabled data-driven decision-making, reduced errors, and allowed planners to focus more on strategic work.
Maxion İnci Wheel Group achieved measurable improvements across planning and execution KPIs:
We had a solid planning process, but managing setup times, last-minute changes, and daily coordination across tools took significant effort. It was hard to maintain speed and accuracy without overloading the team. ICRON gave us a real-time, integrated view of operations. Now, we can plan with all constraints in mind, respond faster when priorities shift, and reduce planning time without compromising control. That’s what’s made the biggest difference.
ICRON Demand empowers businesses to navigate uncertainty through accurate forecasting using AI-driven methods that take into consideration historical data, reaTime updates, and fast adaptation to changing market conditions and disruptions.
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