Integrated Business Planning

Let’s Rethink How We Manage Business

 

IBP is provocative, challenging, and, at times, contentious, yet the benefits are unquestionable. We have experience navigating the dynamics which impede IBP implementation in a variety of different businesses. This experience affords us the opportunity to help others take the concepts of IBP and provide pragmatic operational solutions, avoiding rabbit-holes, minefields, and some of the frustration associated with the deployment.  This site is created to provide online support, answer questions, and help others on their IBP implementation journey.

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Integrated Business Planning

IBP – Where Decisions Are Made

In the movie Field of Dreams, the character played by Kevin Costner repeatedly heard the words, “if you build it, he will come”, implying that if he built a baseball diamond in his cornfield the famous Shoeless Joe Jackson would return to play ball once again.   If only this worked when implementing IBP, if you build it value will come.  Unfortunately building an IBP process doesn’t necessarily mean value from the process will miraculously just appear like Shoeless Joe Jackson and we are left with a mechanized IBP process but dissatisfied with the results. When designing an IBP process…
Debbie Evans
October 23, 2020
Structure

A Reflection on Implementing IBP

My journey with IBP began on Halloween in 2013.  A day to remember as that was the day of the first MBR workshop with the leadership team and it was a day full of challenges, contention, and even hope.    Oliver Wight consultants did their best to keep this group together while being challenged from every imaginable angle but never faltering from the barrage of questions thrown at them like cannons in a war zone.  With much of the tension centered around trust, alignment, behaviors that would need to change for a fully functioning IBP process, and after much deliberation…
Debbie Evans
September 21, 2020
Business

Aligning Business Chaos with Integrated Business Planning

I have a business with a great product and tremendous opportunity with a great team, however I am concerned with our ability to achieve our aggressive growth targets. It seems like we have so many issues with just getting through the month on plan that I am concerned our longer-term goals just won’t happen.  Our current sales plans continue to decrease each month and yet supply chain backorders continue to increase.  My sales team is suggesting that revenue growth will turn around next quarter, but our supply chain continues to struggle with the current demand claiming that the forecast is…
Debbie Evans
May 31, 2023
Operations

Navigating the Complexities of S&OP: Beyond Demand Planning

In the realm of Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP), demand planning is often portrayed as the primary culprit when things go awry. It's easy to assume that inaccuracies in forecasting and demand projections are the root causes of S&OP process challenges. However, in reality, demand planning isn't always the problem. This article aims to shed light on why other factors within the S&OP process can also contribute significantly to its success or failure. Supply Chain Disruptions While demand planning focuses on forecasting customer demand, disruptions in the supply chain can derail even the most accurate demand predictions. Factors like natural…
Debbie Evans
September 21, 2023