Author: Niels

Niels has 20 years of experience in supply chain and business planning and enjoy writing a thing or two every now and then. I'm on the advisory board of Foresight: The International Journal of Applied Forecasting and had the honour to have been labelled as "one of Foresight's most visionary authors." My articles cover company culture, strategy execution, S&OP, IBP, automation, augmentation and human centricity in business planning. As children's book author, publisher and mental toughness advocate, I hope to make a positive contribution by helping children learn about confidence, resilience and a positive mindset. My book series 'My Strong Mind' has been published in 10 languages.
decision intelligence, Digital supply chain, S&OP

The Evolution of Demand Planning: Augmentation & AI-Agents  

Summary this paper discusses how AI decision agents will help evolve demand planning from a function focused on creating a point plan, to a gap detection, gap closure and decision management function, where demand planners provide cross functional aligned decision input to the Demand Review with significantly increased speed, consistency and accuracy. It highlights how demand planning decisions will be digitised, augmented and status managed … Continue reading The Evolution of Demand Planning: Augmentation & AI-Agents  

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decision intelligence, Digital supply chain

Treat your Decision Agent as a Co-Worker!

Kasparov’s law indicates that a collaborative process between humans and machines leads to superior results. Supply Chain professor Nada Sanders therefore advocates in her book Humachine, an AI-collaborative culture. At a personal level, I’ve highlighted that this requires an AI-mindset, where we see an agent as a co-worker we collaboratively approach with a growth-mindset and smart trust. We can teach our experience to an agent, … Continue reading Treat your Decision Agent as a Co-Worker!

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decision intelligence, Digital supply chain, Leadership

We’re Stuck with Old Supply Chain Models

In her post, Driving Value from Supply Chain Planning, Lora Cecere provides great supply chain analysis and benchmarking for her supply chain to admire. The supply chain operating model adjustments and metrics she is suggesting however, are not based on new thinking: 👉 Outside in thinking: in strategy over 50 years old 👉 Outside in demand segmented supply chains: over 20 years old 👉 Business … Continue reading We’re Stuck with Old Supply Chain Models

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S&OP, Supply Chain

Thank You

Dear reader, As I’m starting 2025 it is time for some change. I will finish my editorship at Foresight, and I will stop this blog supply chain trend. For 15 years I’ve been writing this blog and related articles & field studies on average monthly. Content was anchored in S&OP and supply chain planning but touched visioning, strategy execution, company culture & behaviours, communication, philosophy, … Continue reading Thank You

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Digital supply chain, Positive mindset

Cultivating an AI Mindset: Growing with AI

AI is infiltrating our personal lives and the workplace, and soon will be everywhere and irreplaceable in everything you do. At home and in the workplace. Developing and cultivating an AI Mindset will become a must for the modern knowledge worker. In a series of short blogs, I will explore core elements of an AI mindset. In this blog; Collaboration. In previous blogs I discussed … Continue reading Cultivating an AI Mindset: Growing with AI

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decision intelligence, Leadership, S&OP

Key Elements of Decision Centricity in Effective IBP Processes

IBP and its predecessor S&OP were developed as executive decision-making forums. In support of effective decision making in the IBP process, we could expect many decision centric capabilities in an organization. But how decision centric is your S&OP/IBP process, your meetings, your organization? Any idea? To create some baseline insights, I developed an 11-question checklist to assess IBP decision centricity. Based on this checklist I … Continue reading Key Elements of Decision Centricity in Effective IBP Processes

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Digital supply chain, Positive mindset

Cultivating an AI Mindset: AI-Collaboration

AI is infiltrating our personal lives and the workplace, and soon will be everywhere and irreplaceable in everything you do. At home and in the workplace. Developing and cultivating an AI Mindset will become a must for the modern knowledge worker. In a series of short blogs, I will explore core elements of an AI mindset. In this blog; Collaboration. In the previous blog; Smart … Continue reading Cultivating an AI Mindset: AI-Collaboration

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Digital supply chain, Positive mindset

Cultivating an AI Mindset: Smart Trust

AI is infiltrating our personal lives and the workplace, and soon will be everywhere and irreplaceable in everything you do. At home and in the workplace. Developing and cultivating an AI Mindset will become a must for the modern knowledge worker. In a series of short blogs, I will explore core elements of an AI mindset. In this blog, Trust. Granting Trust to AI Within … Continue reading Cultivating an AI Mindset: Smart Trust

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Digital supply chain, Leadership

Digital Transformation has become Bullsh*t! Let’s talk Human-AI Transformation

As I was reading Ethan Mollick’s book, Co-Intelligence on Sunday morning, I indulged myself in some GenAI vanity and asked my IBPGPT; “Write me a 800 word blog about the evolution of IBP using Niels van Hove’s vision, but don’t use his name“ Besides some fluff and jargon around the edges and a surprising focus on scenario planning I didn’t know I had, it gave … Continue reading Digital Transformation has become Bullsh*t! Let’s talk Human-AI Transformation

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decision intelligence, Digital supply chain, S&OP

Invite AI to the Table for your next IBP Meeting

In his book Co-Intelligence, Ethan Mollick suggests firstly to invite AI to the table in everything you do. And secondly to make sure to be the human in the loop that works with AI. Working with AI/GenAI is a skill that can be developed. Prompting GenAI certainly takes practice and Mollick provides some interesting and well thought through prompt examples. If you’re an IBP manager … Continue reading Invite AI to the Table for your next IBP Meeting

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