Intelligent IBP – key principles for a new planning paradigm

The IBP paradigm has hardly changed for 30 years, the decision needle has not moved enough. Intelligent IBP can change this. In this blog I will introduce 27 Intelligent IBP principles I’ve highlighted the last four years in blogs and articles. They will likely change and there will be many more to come, but this is where it starts. A bit of history This goes … Continue reading Intelligent IBP – key principles for a new planning paradigm

A Better Plan is not Necessarily a Better Decision

Some new language has been creeping in the planning vocabulary in the last year or two: planning & decision making. What used to be planning, or a planning system, is now sometimes referred to as planning & decision making. This is most likely influenced by the acknowledgement of a new category decision intelligence by Gartner, for which they provided a definition since 2022. I now … Continue reading A Better Plan is not Necessarily a Better Decision

The Automation of Routine Collaborative Decisions in S&OE

The Sales & Operations Execution (S&OE) cycle is a much-needed addition to your S&OP/IBP process. I used to implement it as ‘The Control Cycle’. Gartner came up with S&OE and Oliver Wight now calls it ITP (Integrated Tactical Planning). Whatever you call it, you better have it as a business if you want to react to short term disruptions Where your IBP process focuses on … Continue reading The Automation of Routine Collaborative Decisions in S&OE

Intelligent IBP – a new role for supply chain planners

Preview – Most IBP cycles around the world are based on a 20-year-old process definition supported by 20-year-old planning concepts. This traditional IBP is not set up for a fast-changing world, where speed of decision making confers a competitive advantage. Intelligent automation will change this. In this series of blogs, I will discuss the transition of traditional IBP towards a more intelligent IBP. Here, you … Continue reading Intelligent IBP – a new role for supply chain planners

Intelligent IBP – Closing the Decision Gaps

Preview – Most IBP cycles around the world are based on a 20-year-old process definition supported by 20-year-old planning concepts. This traditional IBP is not set up for a fast-changing world, where speed of decision making confers a competitive advantage. Intelligent automation will change this. In this series of short blogs, I will discuss the transition of traditional IBP towards a more intelligent IBP. In … Continue reading Intelligent IBP – Closing the Decision Gaps

Intelligent IBP – The Rise of Autonomous

Preview – Most IBP cycles around the world are based on a 20-year-old process definition supported by 20-year-old planning concepts. This traditional IBP is not set up for a fast-changing world, where speed of decision making confers a competitive advantage. Intelligent automation will change this. In a series of short blogs, I will discuss the transition of traditional IBP towards a more intelligent IBP.  In … Continue reading Intelligent IBP – The Rise of Autonomous

Traditional IBP is dead. Long live Intelligent IBP!

The evolution of Integrated Business Planning has been at a standstill for years. Traditional IBP process and planning horizon thinking, supported by traditional Advanced Planning and Business Intelligence (BI) systems, limits progress. Sure, over the years new supporting planning features have been developed. Faster calculations, a nicer GUI, more simulation capability, Machine Learning and graph databases, to name a few. But both the IBP process … Continue reading Traditional IBP is dead. Long live Intelligent IBP!

How to move IBP from a Tedious Process to an Executive Decision Factory

When I was IBP manager at a multi-billion-dollar CPG company about 10 years ago, I remember a marketing director telling me just before the executive IBP meeting; ‘Niels, this feels like going to the dentist every month’. I agreed with him. Back then, preparing for a monthly IBP meeting was a painful, tedious effort, with my full planning team consumed and running overtime to get … Continue reading How to move IBP from a Tedious Process to an Executive Decision Factory

The S&OP Pulse Check 2017 results

The S&OP pulse check is a unique survey that provides new and different types of insights for S&OP practitioners. The S&OP pulse check started in 2010 and is this year in its 6th edition. Thanks to everybody who has made the 2017  S&OP survey possible. Key insights this year are: People & Culture Effective S&OP processes see more positive cultural change Mental Toughness supports effective … Continue reading The S&OP Pulse Check 2017 results

The Future of Analytics in Integrated Business Planning

According to Wikipedia, prescriptive analysis is – after descriptive and predictive analysis -the third and final stage of business analytics. Gartner plots prescriptive analysis as the final and most difficult stage of data analytics. This article will draw an analogy with the mapping and car industry to suggest that prescriptive analysis as an opportunity to support Integrated Business Planning (IBP) and business optimization, is not … Continue reading The Future of Analytics in Integrated Business Planning