SAP IBP


Supply Chain Management: SAP IBP

Disruptive events are rapidly changing global supply chains. It is essential to create a new blueprint designed for agility and proactive response, ensuring unified planning, faster response, and visibility.

What Exactly Is SAP IBP?

SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is cloud-based planning software for supply chain management. Using real-time information, it helps companies respond more quickly to market and business volatility. The objective is a process to translate desired outcomes into financial and operational requirements, maximizing profit and cash flow while minimizing risk.

SAP IBP consists of several modules which can be used independently as well:

  • IBP for Demand
  • IBP for Inventory
  • IBP for Response and Supply
  • IBP for Sales and Operations Planning (for fully integrated S&OP processes)
  • IBP Supply Chain Control Tower (for real-time control, analysis, and management of supply chains)

Key features include:

Supply Chain Management: SAP IBP

Disruptive events are rapidly changing global supply chains. It is essential to create a new blueprint designed for agility and proactive response, ensuring unified planning, faster response, and visibility.

What Exactly Is SAP IBP?

SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is cloud-based planning software for supply chain management. Using real-time information, it helps companies respond more quickly to market and business volatility. The objective is a process to translate desired outcomes into financial and operational requirements, maximizing profit and cash flow while minimizing risk.

SAP IBP consists of several modules which can be used independently as well:

  • IBP for Demand
  • IBP for Inventory
  • IBP for Response and Supply
  • IBP for Sales and Operations Planning (for fully integrated S&OP processes)
  • IBP Supply Chain Control Tower (for real-time control, analysis, and management of supply chains)

Key features include:

  • Supply Chain Control Tower: A visual dashboard of data and KPI’s across the enterprise supply chain.
  • Demand Management: Full transparency with options for time series forecasting using algorithms and models.
  • Stock Management: Optimize target inventory to exceed customer service levels, while balancing costs and risk.

The most important functions of SAP IBP are:

  • Real-time planning for balancing supply and demand
  • Forecasting functions
  • Strong performance based on the SAP HANA platform
  • User friendly with vivid visuals
  • Ability to test and compare scenarios
  • Connection with Microsoft Excel.

The Difference Between SAP IBP and APO

SAP IBP is the next-generation planning tool for supply chain management. It has new innovative features and functions compared to SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (APO). SAP IBP offers a multi-echelon inventory solution that APO does not carry. Many of the aggregation/disaggregation features of IBP for S&OP are only theoretically possible in APO. It is estimated that SAP APO will be maintained until 2025, then SAP IBP will replace it.

Technical resource partners for consideration might beSAP,  Gib or Reveal.

Further Insights for SAPinsiders

  • How to Build a Resilient and Efficient Supply Chain with Robust Sales and Operations Planning Using SAP IBP_S4HANA. Ulaganathan Balakrishnan, shares an article detailing experiences around implementing S&OP across many diverse industries.
  • Leverage SAP Integrated Business Planning for Forecasting. John Yuva of SAPinsider and  Marco Sisfontes-Monge, Managing Partner of Arellius Enterprises, conduct a Q & A with insights about how a robust system can adjust forecasting needs quickly based on changing market conditions.
  • 5 Steps of S&OP to Achieve an Integrated Business Plan. Venkata Ramana Nethi from Schlumberger discusses understanding the framework, key activities, inputs, and outputs of S&OP with the SAP IBP

37 results

  1. Ecommerce image

    The Art of Forecasting

    Reading time: 5 mins

    What is Demand Sensing? Demand sensing is new to most organizations. It is a forecasting method that uses real-time information and mathematical techniques to create an accurate forecast of demand; based on current supply chain realities. The objective is to overcome latency issues, allowing planners to better anticipate short-term changes in demand. If “art” can…
  2. Ecommerce Image

    Infuse Accuracy and Speed into your Supply Chain Planning

    Reading time: 4 mins

    Supply chains remain vulnerable to shocks and disruptions, making planning and execution challenging. Demand is difficult to forecast as the bullwhip effect continues for those contending with supply side shortages and logistic capacity constraints. Consumer expectations are driving increased pressure for end-to-end planning solutions to improve supply chain performance. Companies are working hard to build…
  3. Ecommerce Image

    Empower Planners with Response and Supply Planning

    Reading time: 3 mins

    Why is response and supply planning so important today? While companies are still facing challenges from an ongoing pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war only adds to the disruptive landscape. Supply chain disruptions will continue to occur as part of our global new normal. Traditional planning approaches relied on monthly planning cycles with frozen planning horizons –…
  4. Demand forecasting image

    Leverage SAP Integrated Business Planning for Forecasting

    Reading time: 9 mins

    Robust is a difficult term to define. It’s something that is useful for the organization, something that makes sense. A robust demand forecasting process must be able to handle variances in demand and enable control your supply chain — with the intent of avoiding situations where you have 1,000 days of inventory or are missing…
  5. Supply Chain Control Towers

    Evolving Supply Chain Control Towers

    Reading time: 3 mins

    Supply chain control towers are becoming a standard module in leading supply chain planning solutions. This specific module is marketed very prominently and, in some cases, is often marketed as THE capability required to run fully autonomous supply chains in the future. Suppose you are familiar with the features within the control tower functionality of…
  6. Inventory Planning and Advanced Analytics

    Reading time: 3 mins

    Inventory planning- The constant balancing act Inventory planning is one of the most critical and most challenging aspects in supply chain planning. This means that implementing an effective inventory planning and management strategy is crucial for an organization to stay competitive in today’s dynamic global supply chain landscape. There is always room to bring more…
  7. How to Build a Resilient and Efficient Supply Chain With Robust Sales and Operations Planning Using SAP IBP S4HANA

    Reading time: 9 mins

    Sales and operations planning (S&OP) helps companies estimate the demand for their products/services at an aggregate volume level using some form of forecasting method and incorporating inputs from the sales and marketing teams. Many organizations, in their race to embrace technology, ignore a key ingredient for the successful implementation of their S&OP: organizational readiness. Drawing…
  8. SAP’s Latest – Synchronized Planning – Linking Planning to Execution

    In times of ever changing demand, companies need to make rapid changes to support a high degree of customer service including managing same day shipments. Hear how SAP’s Latest IBP and SAP S/4HANA innovations, Synchronized Planning connects your supply network plan with production planning and detailed scheduling. Released in October 2020 this innovation will help…
  9. Managing a Supply Chain in Chaos

    Managing a supply chain in today’s environment is as unpredictable as it’s ever been. Changing demand, unpredictable global suppliers, and plant shutdowns. They can all upend any well made plan. SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain (SAP IBP) can provide functionality to provide predictable and understandable risk management to help smooth the chaos you…
  10. Transform Supply Chain and Financial Operations with Cross-Functional Analytics: The GKN Story

    Many organizations struggle to translate their SAP data into actionable insights. Learn how GKN Automotive, the world’s largest supplier of driveline technologies to the automotive industry, has transformed its supply chain and optimized its systems by incorporating operational and financial analytics. This cross-functional reporting strategy enables the organization to focus on improving enterprise-wide KPIs and…