Polaris' Journey to Supply Chain Agility
THE IMPERATIVE FOR CHANGE
How an off-road icon broke free from broken tech and built a supply chain that actually works
When COVID-19 hit, the world turned to the outdoors—and to Polaris. ATVs. Snowmobiles. Boats. Demand exploded. But so did the cracks in their supply chain planning system. Despite a multi-million-dollar investment in Blue Yonder, Polaris planners were still stuck in Excel.
Manual workarounds. Static plans. No visibility. No agility. The result? A supply chain built for yesterday, not the wild ride that lay ahead. They didn’t need new software. They needed it to actually work. So they called Spinnaker SCA.
THE TRANSFORMATIVE SOLUTION
Finding a new route
- 01 Look back, learn fast
- 02 Build what matters
- 03 Plan for what's next
- 04 Keep the good, fix the gaps
- 05 Stay close after go-live
A quick history lesson
We started with a brutal audit of what went wrong the first time. What was configured. What wasn’t. What users ignored. What leadership may have missed. This honest assessment set a strong foundation for what came next.
Full speed ahead
Together we built a lean, smart planning engine that matched how the business actually runs—starting with off-road vehicles (ORV), their biggest and most complex unit.
We also ditched the non-essential parts of the configuration, prioritized what would actually move the needle, and saved everything else for the post go-live guided transition.
Getting it right—the second time
The new design wasn’t just built for a pandemic-level spike. It was built for whatever comes next—demand swings, new product lines, growth in new markets. It flexes. It scales. It works.
Build momentum
We didn’t scrap everything. We brought back experienced users, trained new ones, and bridged the knowledge gaps that caused chaos the first time. We made the platform usable—and used.
A lasting legacy
We didn’t vanish when the new system launched. Our team stuck around part-time, helping Polaris scale the solution to other business units and setting them up to run it successfully without us.
BUSINESS IMPACT
Polaris didn’t just fix their planning software. They redefined how they run their business.
- Excel is not real-time. Planners stopped chasing spreadsheets and started driving strategy. Now they replan the entire network in minutes—not days.
- One business, not silos. The new foundation set the tone for future rollouts across snowmobiles, motorcycles, and PG&A (parts, garments & accessories). One system, one source of truth.
- Customizations, not complexity. Minimal mods, maximum performance. We met every functional need without building a monster they couldn’t maintain.
- The power of process and technology. They finally got what they paid for: A planning system that runs as fast as the market changes—and that their people actually use.
- Ready for growth. With Blue Yonder running like it should, Polaris is ready to grow. Expand. Pivot. Whatever the future throws at them—they’ve got it handled.