SAP Supply Chain Planning


Supply Chain Management: SAP Supply Chain Planning

The art of orchestrating supply chain planning can be intricate. Unforeseen changes in supply, demand, and market changes are a test in agility. The ability to synchronize planning for sustainable growth is the key to building a resilient supply chain.

Supply Chain Planning Defined

Supply chain planning (SCP) is a forward-looking process. It is coordinating assets to optimize the delivery of goods, services, and information from suppliers to consumers. Organizations can leverage solutions to help navigate the complexities of planning and orchestrating supply chain operations flawlessly. SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is powered by SAP S/4HANA memory and is a cloud-based planning software for supply chain management. IBP is a process for aligning a company’s business goals across operational functional areas.

Supply Chain Management: SAP Supply Chain Planning

The art of orchestrating supply chain planning can be intricate. Unforeseen changes in supply, demand, and market changes are a test in agility. The ability to synchronize planning for sustainable growth is the key to building a resilient supply chain.

Supply Chain Planning Defined

Supply chain planning (SCP) is a forward-looking process. It is coordinating assets to optimize the delivery of goods, services, and information from suppliers to consumers. Organizations can leverage solutions to help navigate the complexities of planning and orchestrating supply chain operations flawlessly. SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is powered by SAP S/4HANA memory and is a cloud-based planning software for supply chain management. IBP is a process for aligning a company’s business goals across operational functional areas.

Key integration elements are:

  • Supply and demand
  • Finance and Operations
  • Functions and business processes
  • Strategy outcomes
  • Non-financial measures
  • Cash flow, costs, and revenues.

A structured process that comes from an IBP approach enables companies to make better informed and fact-based decisions. It provides planning, what-if scenario capabilities, and real-time demand commitments, considering constraints. Increased visibility enables companies to incorporate insights from supply chain projections, financial projects, and strategic plans. There are unmatched benefits of IBP for SAP Supply Chain Planning, like optimization of logistics, improved cross-functional collaboration, planning agility, risk mitigation, and improved forecast accuracy.

SAP Supply Chain Planning yields several benefits:

  • Decreased costs
  • Increased profits
  • Reduction in delays
  • Improved efficiency
  • Increase in output
  • Better cooperation.

Vendor partners that can offer software solutions or operational intelligence include – SAP, Reveal or Gib.

Key Considerations for SAPinsiders are:

  • Video Q&A with Eric Jones from GIB on Connecting the Dots Between Supply Chain Planning and Execution. Learn how to tame many supply chain complexities with end-to-end -supply chain solutions by watching this video. The discussion gives a perspective on why supply chain planning tools are an imperative in today’s highly complex supply chains.
  • Demand Planning Alerts Increase the Accuracy of your Forecasts. David Ducray explains that demand planners are often faced with converting large amounts of data into an accurate forecast. Review different ways to spot trends and errors in data by using alerts to help you create a more accurate forecast. Allow planners the ability to manage by exception.
  • Meeting Demand with a Constrained Supply Using Product Allocation in SAP APO Global ATP. Alok Jaiswal reviews the process flow of how product allocation can be used in SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (SAP APO). This utilizes global available-to-promise (ATP) to meet customer requirements by managing the supply of scarce products.

78 results

  1. supply chain image

    Retail Industry Grows Despite COVID-19 Supply Chain Challenges

    Reading time: 2 mins

    Despite the recent surge in COVID-19 cases and supply chain disruptions, the retail industry grew a robust 14.1% during November and December to $886.7 billion, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).   The strong growth encouraged NRF to hold its annual conference in person at the Javits Convention Center in New York this week. The…

  2. Red arrow leaving circle image

    Conquering the Next Disruption with a Built-to-Evolve Supply Chain

    December 17, 2021

    Disruption keeps rewriting the rules for supply chains, and many companies simply cannot keep up. From changing customer demand to pricing pressures to shipping bottlenecks, constantly evolving supply chains require businesses to constantly transform. Discover how you can make your business more resilient and respond at the pace of disruption with built-to-evolve Kinetic Supply Chain…

  3. Wholesale and Distribution image

    How Wholesale and Distribution is Using Available Technologies to Win in the Current Market

    December 15, 2021

    The Wholesale Distribution Industry has been facing pressure from a changing marketplace due in part to mass-market retailers. Recent events and disruptions increase this pressure. With Retail pushing into the wholesale market space, customers expect B2B transactions to mimic their personal consumer transactions. The need for visibility into inventory or source alternatives is increasingly important.…

  4. Security

    Leveraging Theory of Constraints in Supply Chain Control Towers

    Reading time: 3 mins

    Theory of Constraints is widely hailed as one of the most widely leveraged process optimization and continuous improvement method. Proposed by Prof. Goldratt, the crux of this theory is that the pace or the performance of the process is determined by the bottleneck. To improve the end-to-end process, you need to identify the bottleneck and…

  5. Five Stages of Disruption: A Digital Supply Chain perspective

    Reading time: 4 mins

    By Kumar Singh, Research Director, SAPinsider                                                     A disruptive technology will not be “disruptive” during all stages of its life While every other provider, vendor, and “expert” is shouting about digital…

  6. Science behind ERPsim image

    Democratizing AI Within Your Supply Chain Leadership

    Reading time: 5 mins

    By Kumar Singh, Research Director, Automation & Analytics, SAPinsider   Supply Chains may never become fully autonomous but…. Supply chains of the future will be increasingly driven by algorithms. Key planning processes will be significantly automated and managed by Algorithms. In a nutshell, supply chains of the future will be part of mathematical corporations -corporations…

  7. Data Scientist Ants and the Power of Heuristics in Building Smart Supply Chains

    Reading time: 5 mins

    By Kumar Singh, Research Director, Automation & Analytics, SAPinsider   Delivery Drones and Ants- What is the connection ? You probably read the news last year regarding FAA approval of drone deliveries. Now that an easy action item box has been checked ,the next step will be to test the real execution. Drone deliveries, from...…

  8. Why AI Needs to Play a Critical Role in America’s Supply Chain Innovation Capabilities

    Reading time: 7 mins

    By Kumar Singh, Research Director, Automation and Analytics, SAPinsider The Tomorrow War In the movie “The Tomorrow War”, people from the future (2051) time travel to 2030 to ask for help. In 2051, our planet is being overrun by invading aliens from outer space and with their numbers dwindling rapidly, humans are bound to lose…

  9. Supply chain platforms

    Hyperscalers Focus on Supply Chain Platforms

    Reading time: 5 mins

    Supply chain planning solutions space has been a crowded and competitive segment for decades. As technology capabilities progress, we see more and more entrants in the segment, trying to compete with established players. However, a key fact of this space is that while bells and whistles may differ, the core features and functionalities remain the…

  10. Understanding the Key Aspect of Supply Chain Visibility

    Reading time: 8 mins

    In the world of supply chain, the more information available on what is going on in the supply chain, the more confident players in the chain can be about seamless execution. This visibility leads to increased certainty, and with that, the need for “just in case measures” like time buffers, labor buffers, inventory buffers etc.…