It’s taken me decades to understand a simple but profound fact about business performance: Current planning and scheduling methods, including S&OP processes and software, and even many advanced “optimization” systems are, in fact, static. That is, the moment you commit any plan or schedule to “live” status, it is inaccurate and out-of-date, and therefore likely costing your business money…and your customers frustration!

Why is it impossible to have a static plan that’s both live and current? Because your operations are dynamic – production, people and assets are at work; customers and businesses are in constant activity; trucks, trains, and vessels are in motion; variation and disruptions are in effect.

Does any of this – let alone all of it – sound like it can fit into a stagnant plan?

It doesn’t make a difference whether you use a spreadsheet, an ERP system, an S&OP process, or even the most advanced planning and optimization solution. If your plans and schedules don’t reflect this dynamic environment and support your responsiveness to these realities, you are constantly reacting to reality. And chances are, you are doing so with limited (or no) visibility of the impact of these realities or your decisions, with no effective way to revise or update your schedule. That’s the essence of ineffectiveness.

[Tweet “Before making decisions, you need see the impact of your choices on operational activities”]

You need a solution that dynamically links your plans with your schedules and the current state of your operations. You need a consistently accurate picture of your capacity, production capability, service delivery, and the actual real-time execution of your operations. Before making decisions, you have to be able to see the impact of your choices on your operational activities. Doing without any of these capabilities guarantees that you are leaving money on the table…or worse, losing customers to the competition.

The only way to remain competitive and profitable in today’s real-time world is with an integrated supply chain planning system that bridges the gap between static planning and scheduling, and dynamic real-time operations. Make sure that whatever methodology and decision support system you select can:

• Reflect (monitor) current reality with accurate data
• Detect and alert your business when operational changes, performance variation or disruptions are going to adversely impact your KPIs
• Provide rapid and optimized near-real-time operational decision support to help select the best (optimal) response from a variety of possible scenarios and see the impact of any potential option
• Do it all while connecting seamlessly to ERP, critical legacy systems, and finance systems

To learn more, check out 3 ways to ensure your supply chain is ready for anything, or contact one of our team members.