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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BusinessPlanning

Planning for uncertainty, responding with agility

“We have implemented Integrated Business Planning (IBP) but our performance doesn’t seem to be improving, why is it not working?”   This is a common frustration for many organizations that have embarked on the journey of IBP to obtain this miraculous alignment between supply and demand only to be left with minimal performance improvement.  In the early days of an IBP implementation the focus is hyperinflated on the business’s ability to demand plan within reasonable level of accuracy and eliminating bias, however determining the reasonable level of accuracy can often be subjective.   A supply chain manager that expects 98% accuracy in…
Debbie Evans
May 5, 2021
Business

Truth Beats Stretch: An S&OE Story

On Monday at 8:07 a.m., the war room smelled like dry-erase and coffee. Ravi, the supply planner, clicked his laptop shut with a little flourish. “Good news,” he said. “I bumped the plan eight percent. Bit of a stretch, but it’ll light a fire.” Maria, who ran the bottleneck filler line, raised an eyebrow. “We have one filler,” she said. “It runs at one filler speed.” “Totally,” Ravi said. “But if we aim higher, we’ll get more. People step up.” By noon the “stretch” had turned into schedule musical chairs. To hit Ravi’s number, the plan jammed in two extra…
Debbie Evans
October 8, 2025
Business

Supply Plan vs. Demand Plan — What’s the Difference and Why It Matters

Think of the demand plan as the company’s best read on the market—an unconstrained forecast of what customers will buy if nothing gets in the way. It’s built from history, seasonality, price and promo plans, sales pipeline, and a healthy dose of competitive intel. It should be honest about uncertainty and explicit about assumptions, because its job is to preserve a clean market signal and highlight revenue risk and opportunity. The supply plan hears that signal and replies, “Great—here’s the constrained, feasible way we’ll make, buy, and ship it.” Supply translates the demand plan into real-world actions: purchase orders, production…
Debbie Evans
October 2, 2025
Business

Navigating Success: How Integrated Business Planning Can Propel New Businesses to Prosperity

Starting a new business venture can be an exhilarating yet daunting journey. Entrepreneurs often wear multiple hats, juggling countless responsibilities while striving to achieve sustainable growth. In this dynamic and competitive landscape, the concept of Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is often thought of as something for more mature businesses, but nothing can be further from the truth.  IBP is the valuable compass that can steer new businesses toward success by aligning all functions towards those strategic growth ambitions. Understanding Integrated Business Planning At its core, Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is a holistic approach to business management that aligns various organizational…
Debbie Evans
September 4, 2023