Why Cognitive Automation makes IBP more Agile and more Strategic

A common IBP cycle has a monthly cadence providing an – up to 24 months – forward view of a business. It is often supported by a weekly control cycle, sometimes called Sales & Operations Execution (S&OE). This cycle plans demand & supply in more detail and over a shorter horizon, often around 12 weeks. IBP is data and resource hungry. Planners spend up to … Continue reading Why Cognitive Automation makes IBP more Agile and more Strategic

Technology Support in Integrated Business Planning: Automation, Augmentation and Human Centricity

Preview In his 2019 Foresight article, Niels van Hove examined eight technological hurdles that must be overcome to enable autonomous or ‘lights out’ supply-chain planning. He reasoned that to support such planning we need to implement a third wave of integrated supply-chain planning software. In this article, Niels argues that these technological advances can lead to either (a) planning-process and decision automation or (b) planning … Continue reading Technology Support in Integrated Business Planning: Automation, Augmentation and Human Centricity

Achieving autonomous or “lights out” supply chain planning

Operating in the supply chain world, it’s hard to not come across terminology like supply chain planning 4.0, “light touch” planning or “lights out” planning. All have generated a lot of hype over the past few years … and for good reason. Considerable progress has been made in technology in recent years, continuing at a dizzying pace. Autonomous development is happening in most major car … Continue reading Achieving autonomous or “lights out” supply chain planning

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

Autonomous or ‘Lights Out’ Supply Chain Planning; what is really required?

If you operate in the supply chain or the planning world, it is hard to not come across terminology like supply chain planning 4.0, ‘light touch’ planning or ‘lights out’ planning. They all rate high in the hype cycle and for good reasons. A lot of technology progress has been made in recent years, and progress continuous at dizzying speed. Autonomous vehicles already exist in … Continue reading Autonomous or ‘Lights Out’ Supply Chain Planning; what is really required?

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