Tag: Supply Planning

Bicycling, and Planning Software??

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What do long bicycle rides have in common with new planning software?  Maybe not much except they are two things I’ve been spending a lot of time on lately.

I completed my first cycling century (100 miles) at the end of last month. It took a lot of dedicated training time to get ready for it.  I’ve also been busy the past several months helping clients investigate new software for supply and demand planning and MRP.  It takes a lot of work to find a good fit.

When you commit to an endurance sport like a cycling century or a marathon it is important to count the cost and prepare well before you start.  If you don’t prepare adequately, you probably won’t be able to finish. Likewise, if you do not prepare well for your software selection, you may find yourself with a tool that does not get you over the metaphorical finish line of getting your planners out of Excel spreadsheets for planning.

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SAP IBP – Back to the User

To everything, turn, turn, turn, there is a season…  

When I started out in planning and forecasting, there were no integrated systems.  We built production schedules for the next week or two based on recent sales and open orders.  We knew there were certain products that sold well at certain times of the year (ice cream cones in summer, saltines in the winter).  We built inventory for these products based on last year’s sales and this years’ projections.  And we did it all in spreadsheets.  As we moved to more sophisticated systems, users had less flexibility to quickly adapt to changing requirements.  Now the pendulum is swinging back to user flexibility. Continue reading →

Plan to be Nimble

The fog of Business

“No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.”
― Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

“You can always change you plan, but only if you have one.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Even the best plans can change if there’s an accident.”
― Lemony Snicket, The Reptile Room

I recently read an article on LinkedIn that said if you have a contingency plan, you’ve already admitted failure.  I couldn’t disagree more.  Unless you are omniscient, there is no way things will go exactly as planned.  Only the All-Knowing One can have a plan that foresees every eventuality. The rest of us need a plan B.
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