One may wonder what a typical day in the life of a supply planner would be like? Let’s dive deep into the supply chain landscape and understand a supply planner’s role.
Supply Chain Landscape
The supply chain landscape is dynamic due to various internal and external factors, and is also intrinsically dependent on and driven by product supply and demand, and the finances associated with these factors. In this context, the role of a supply planner is pivotal and that of a cog in the supply chain wheel traversing different geographies and meeting respective challenges presented by each.
At one end of the supply chain spectrum is the customer, while on other end is the supplier (producer) with retailers and distributors connecting the two. A consumer who creates the demand, can at any given time cause a change in demand. Failure to adjust to this change due to a deficit in the inventory, inefficient logistics, improper segmentation or any other reason can have a bullwhip effect across the supply chain spectrum.
Using “what-if” analysis to help plan
On daily basis, a supply planner must constantly plan to mitigate any ambiguity and provide necessary visibility across the supply chain. Using near real-time and historical data of the product and its market, a supply planner must carry out ‘what-if’ analysis for different scenarios and forecast different product portfolios, SKU proliferation, product supply and demand, and strategies for the resultant trade-offs between the top-line and operational performance to boost the company’s bottom line. Also, the supply planner helps in deciding when and where product(s) should be produced by considering factors like material requirements (including manpower), capacity utilization, cost trade-offs, trans-shipment possibilities, and other constraints.
Some of the most common, yet critical scenarios that impact supply chain efficiency are planned on a day-to-day basis by a supply planner. The supply planner is a collaborator between various stakeholders across the supply chain landscape that involves procurement, production, distribution, and sales.
Krypt helps Supply Planners mitigate risk
As depicted, Krypt’s IBP implementation allows a supply planner to take mitigative action on daily basis in critical scenarios to provide end-to-end visibility for all stakeholders and improve the bottom line.