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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Operations

Order Control Gone Haywire: A Hilarious Guide to managing orders during a constrained supply situation

One of the challenges in the Integrated business planning (IBP) process is aligning the outcome of the monthly IBP process with the short-term tactical horizon.  It happens like this:  The demand review from the commercial team provides an unconstrained demand plan.  Supply Chain review responds with their known constraints that cannot be overcome, it is decided that the commercial team is then forced to constrain the demand plan and then supply chain is able to develop a supply plan that is both realistic and achievable.  The process works great! Right?  But not so fast, the customer, aware that there is…
Debbie Evans
July 12, 2023
Integrated Business Planning

S&OP vs IBP. What’s the difference?

It is often a common practice for businesses to think about Sales and Operations planning (S&OP) and Integrated Business planning (IBP) as terms that can be reflected interchangeably, however there are very distinct differences that are important to understand and are more than just nuances.    These differences can have important implications on how an organization approaches deployment with respect to ownership, accountability and how data is constructed for visibility and decision making.   Let’s compare these differences:   Characteristic S&OP IBP Purpose Balancing demand and supply to align appropriate capacity and resources Understand the consequence of integrated plans with respect to…
Debbie Evans
March 17, 2021
Integrated Business Planning

Simplifying Success: How Integrated Business Planning Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated or Time-Consuming

In the fast-paced world of business, staying competitive requires smart planning and adaptability. Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is often hailed as a game-changer in achieving these goals, but it's a common misconception that IBP must be complex and time-consuming. In reality, simplifying the IBP process is not only possible but can also lead to more efficient and effective outcomes. Start with Clear Objectives: A fundamental step in simplifying IBP is to establish clear objectives. What do you want to achieve with IBP? Is it improved demand forecasting, better inventory management, or enhanced financial planning? By defining your goals upfront, you…
Debbie Evans
September 11, 2023
Integrated Business Planning

What Covid-19 taught us about IBP

Implementation of an Integrated business planning (IBP) process in a large matrix organization is far from short on challenges and even after several years these challenges often persists.  Navigating the dynamics of an organization that has deep seated roots lacking transparency, subterfuge, turf guarding and even egocentric behaviors can plague an IBP process often longer than the organization has the patience to endure.   How is it possible to integrate different functions in such an environment where supply chain poor performance is often the result of perceived bad forecast, a sales and marketing team that continues to miss sales targets due…
Debbie Evans
March 24, 2021