Comments on: In The Battle Between Demand Driven & Demand Planning, Both Sides Are Failing

By: Ali Khan

Ali Khan — Sun, 10 Dec 2017 09:05:25 +0000

Eric, this article resonates on many levels as I embark on a journey to establish a Demand Planning CoE in ESSA, The importance of ‘keeping up’ or even ‘looking ahead’ can not be understated, along with recruiting the right talent, investing in their capability, and having a vision of what ‘world class’ looks like.

By: Carol Ptak

Carol Ptak — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 17:33:15 +0000

Eric – of course it is and we would welcome the opportunity to collaborate as we have suggested to Anish the last time I saw him.

By: Eric Wilson

Eric Wilson — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 16:29:51 +0000

Thanks Carol for your comments and likewise demand planning is about more than just supply chain and a prescise or strategic forecast.

By: Eric wilson

Eric wilson — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 16:26:37 +0000

Thanks Carol for your comments and likewise demand planning is about more than just supply chain and a prescise or strategic forecast.

By: Carol Ptak

Carol Ptak — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 14:35:08 +0000

“Blame” is rarely a good place to start nor is imagining a conflict there is none. I will acknowledge it is however good click bait. 🙂

The fact is that currently with traditional planning there is no possible way to bring a forecast range into operational planning. MRP requires a master schedule by part by date – single number. No fault to the Demand Planner,

DDMRP plans according to a range – an excellent fit and alignment to a business plan that is prepared with a range of expectation. The required capability for the operating model is set through the Demand Driven S&OP process which sends the necessary master settings – not a master schedule – that allows a company to sense changes in customer demand and adapt planning and production while pulling from supplier in real time. This way a company can use its capacity to build what it actually will sell rather than committing capacity, material and space to a forecast demand signal that is inherently flawed.

The Demand Driven methodology is not just about DDMRP – another favorite debate subject to limit the discussion to DDMRP and then show how pieces are missing. No kidding – DDMRP is the planning and execution engine inside a Demand Drive Adaptive Enterprise.

We would suggest that folks may want to consider actually learning abou the methodology before criticizing what it allegedly does and doesn’t do only to expose that the author really does not have an understanding of the method. There is a great deal of content on the Demand Driven Institute website. In addition the latest book, Precisely Wrong, exposes the fallacy of traditional planning, why it doesn’t work and why it just can’t work – and what to do about it,

Demand Driven is not just DDMRP – DDMRP is the operational planning engine – there is also a defined process for tactical planning and strategic planning that together constitutes the Demand Driven Adaptive Enterprise Model. There is a great synergy with the IBF body of knowledge if there is a desire to consider a different management approach rather than trying to imagine a conflict where there isn’t one

By: eric wilson

eric wilson — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 16:33:22 +0000

Stefan I am happy to see you weigh in and hear your thoughts. I tend to agree that a lot of the blame does need to fall on management or even the company. I think part of the problem is it has been classified by many companies as a supply chain function and a cost center and never allows it to break out and see its potential. But that may be the topic for a future article. As far as this one I think your last few words of your comment says it all (they too need to keep up)

By: Stefan de Kok

Stefan de Kok — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 02:33:33 +0000

Eric, I think you hit all the nails on the head except one. Naming all the issues but putting the blame in the wrong place. The blame is not with the demand planners, but with their management and with providers of software and services.

When new demand planners are hired they need to be trained. Not just in pushing the right buttons, not in how/why we do things today, but in understanding the core concepts. These all evolve. All planners need to keep abreast of domain developments. Demand planners should be ones capable of signaling when the process or the system is broken, and drive the change. They should also be able to call out when providers are pushing last century’s concepts (they too need to keep up)