Kim Britton, Author at IBP Blogger

Capability

Advance S&OP to IBP – simple right?

I’m going to reframe from a lengthy affirmation of how your S&OP process is rocking; The effective ownership of the unconstrained demand forecast, systemic bias controlled within +/-2%. The ability and accuracy of the process to constrain demand based upon material, resource availability and machine capacity. Generating a credible supply plan and measuring production adherence weekly and monthly against this plan to ensure sales commitments to customers are respected. Controlling abnormal demand when customer orders are over forecast, worst still when they drop orders inside published lead-time. Your ERP is effectively driving the materials requirement plan and accurately performing production…

Kim BrittonSeptember 7, 2021

Business

What happens where there is no supply plan?

Stripping back all the frills and thrills you are left with the core purpose of IBP; to converge, align and integrate the financial plan, demand plan and supply plan. So, what happens when the supply plan changes daily, that is, there really is no static supply plan? However absurd this might sound, it’s not as uncommon as perhaps you might think. For business with large SKU proliferation, servicing a large distribution network or customer base, typical of FMCG organizations or OEM aftermarket channels, it is not unusual to allow orders to flow directly into the production planning processes. Perhaps, there…

Kim BrittonApril 7, 2021

Planning

What happens when there is no supply plan?.

Stripping back all the frills and thrills you are left with the core purpose of IBP; to converge, align and integrate the financial plan, demand plan and supply plan. So, what happens when the supply plan changes daily, that is, there really is no static supply plan? However absurd this might sound, it’s not as uncommon as perhaps you might think. For business with large SKU proliferation, servicing a large distribution network or customer base, typical of FMCG organizations or OEM aftermarket channels, it is not unusual to allow orders to flow directly into the production planning processes. Perhaps, there…

Kim BrittonApril 7, 2021

Managment

Call it IBP, it’ll be ok!

The design has been approved, accountability defined and resources allocated, everything is set to implement IBP…wrong! In reality the muscle memory of most organizations is an overwhelming force which will not be changed without direct intervention. In most cases, the formal IBP reviews become incorporated into existing meetings with a promise of ‘doing IBP’. Leadership commitment to IBP results in a fervor to proclaim the term or validate data as coming from IBP. In fact, most legacy meetings continue unabated and the IBP reviews become an appendage to the established protocol. The possibility of redesigning the agenda so to capture…

Kim BrittonMarch 22, 2021

Capability

Let’s Talk About Capability

Let’s talk about capability, I don’t mean people skills, I mean the systems, processes and tools which govern and control an enterprise. Conceptually, the objective of integrating a business is simple; integrated business planning aims to align the financial plan, demand plan and supply plan (‘align’ not necessarily meaning ‘make the same’). Business planning is predicated on the capability to facilitate change and steer the business to a desired destination. If the suite of business management systems are not capable, or have been wired in a way which impedes decisions to follow a desired course there is a significant challenge…

Kim BrittonMarch 15, 2021

Integration

Two Face of Demand Planning

In ancient Roman religion and myth, the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings was Janus. Janus symbolized change and transitions such as the progress of past to future, from one condition to another, and from one vision to another. He represented time, simultaneously looking into the past with one face and the future with the other. Why the lesson into Roman myths; demand planning performs a critical pivot regarding the connectivity and integration between the forward-looking commercial outlook of an enterprise and short term, detailed supply/production planning. Positioned at the 3-month horizon (nominative cumulative lead-time) the demand plan looks…

Kim BrittonOctober 20, 2020

Operations Structure

The S&OP Merry-Go-Round

“Demand and supply are happening at the same time, don’t separate them integrate them”. The notion that ‘demand’ occurs and ‘supply’ responds is a fallacy, in fact, the two are symbiotic whereby one is as dependent upon the other as much as the other on the one. These two entities have a mutually beneficial relationship that should, must, be leveraged however there’s one significant issue; they speak different languages. When I say ‘different languages’ I don’t mean variants of the Germanic language, I mean one speaks Klingon and the other Dothraki. Although by no means an expert linguist I can’t…

Kim BrittonOctober 6, 2020

Structure

Value

I call it the relentless search for value realization. No sooner has the enterprise decided IBP is necessary as the question of ‘where’s the value’ starts. You’ve been given a month following your appointment, why is IBP not deployed, fully functional, and delivering the proclaimed value? The simple answer is that the first six months is spent uncovering rocks that have laid dormant for many years. It’s akin to an architect survey the land on which to build; to a large extent, the final structure depends both on the plot upon which it is to be built and the skills…

Kim BrittonSeptember 24, 2020

Integrated Business Planning

Basics

IBP, Integrated Business Planning, the most wanted yet unwelcome process ever devised! In most circumstances, IBP enters the enterprise to resolve issues associated with supply and demand; demand plan bias, poor service levels, excessive inventory. In reality, many issues of supply are the manifestation of decisions made elsewhere in the business well before manufacturing and distribution are called upon. Ironically, it’s arguable the challenges thrust upon manufacturing and distribution by the broader business consume every ounce of resource, in doing so prevent Supply identifying and addressing deficiencies in their own operational capabilities. So here’s where the promises of IBP improving…

Kim BrittonSeptember 21, 2020

Business Operations

Discovering A New Idea

It’s been decided, the benefits are too great to be ignored, the business case is indisputable, the business is going to implement integrated business planning. Three months later the design workshops have been completed, key roles have been defined and appointments made. Notions of advancements in demand planning, inventory reduction, service level improvements now await, it’s only months away! The enterprise now looks to the integrated business planning leader in excited anticipation of fulfilling the promises which lead the business here. So, it begins! There’s a belief the decision to implement integrated business planning (IBP) itself brings the implied rewards…