In today's volatile supply chain environment, planners face a relentless wave of disruptions such as shifting demand, order changes, supply shortages, and capacity constraints. Most of their day is spent reacting to problems, assessing impact, and fixing issues one by one. This reactive approach often addresses symptoms rather than root causes, leaving systemic issues unresolved and increasing costs, waste, and lost sales.
The planning challenge
Supply chains generate massive amounts of data, and planners are overwhelmed by the pace of change. Disconnected systems create data silos, while manual processes slow response times and introduce errors. Planners struggle to identify root causes and trends between cycles, leading to a host of issues such as inefficient resource utilization, missed opportunities and reduced agility.
What is it?
Insight-driven planning transforms exception management into an intelligent, actionable, and repeatable process. Instead of treating exceptions in isolation, this framework combines three critical components into a single actionable object:
1. Exception: A KPI below target or degraded from a previous plan. Example: projected OTIF falls below 90%.
2. Root cause: Intelligence identifies why the exception occurred. Example: a decommitted purchase order caused a late customer order.
3. Resolution: Guided playbooks recommend standard actions. Example: expediting or reallocating supply. By consolidating these elements, planners gain clarity and can prioritize actions that deliver the greatest supply chain impact. Artificial intelligence amplifies the process by detecting patterns such as multiple exceptions tied to a single supplier, enabling planners to resolve thousands of issues with a single strategic action.
