In the ever-evolving landscape of global supply chain management, the need for effective planning has never been more critical. Since 2020, nearly every major corporation has embarked on some form of planning transformation. However, the shocking reality is that a staggering 90% of these initiatives have faced substantial challenges or outright failures. This revelation comes from the recent findings of Board International's Global Planning Survey 2023, sending a clear signal that businesses need to adapt and equip their workforce with the right skills to succeed in an era of continuous disruption.
Continuous Planning: A New Imperative
"With all the uncertainty that we see in the world, business leaders need to recognize a new reality: the era of continuous disruption is here," asserts Marco Limena, CEO of Board International. Limena's statement serves as a resounding wake-up call for organizations to continuously adapt and discover new opportunities amidst today's myriad challenges. He goes on to emphasize, "Continuous planning is an imperative, and the good news is that companies that advance their digital capabilities can steer their business at the speed of change and gain a competitive edge."
Taking Planning More Seriously
The Global Planning Survey 2023, which surveyed 2,454 experts across 12 diverse industries in various countries, revealed that only 13% reported being unaffected by recent events like COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and the cost-of-living crisis. Consequently, 85% of companies now indicate that planning has gained a significantly higher level of importance within their organizations. Furthermore, 76% of the surveyed companies reported an increase in budgets for planning transformation and planning teams. Astonishingly, 94% have been prompted by their boards and/or investors to adopt a more strategic approach to planning.
Excel Madness... Still Relevant
While the survey uncovered a wide array of reasons for the failure of planning transformations, certain trends were discernible. A lack of technical capability within organizations emerged as the top cause (26%), followed by a shortage of investment in skills (23%), and a scarcity of team resources (22%). One intriguing finding is that spreadsheets continue to play a central role in business operations, with a mere 2% of companies not using them at all for planning. Moreover, roughly a third of respondents admitted that they do not feel adequately prepared to tackle challenges such as ongoing supply chain disruptions (29%), rising interest rates (22%), the potential for a new pandemic (32%), or a looming recession (34%).
ASCM SC Planning Certificate: Your Path to Success
In the face of these daunting challenges, it's clear that supply chain planning professionals need to upskill and prepare themselves for the future. That's where the ASCM SC Planning Certificate programcomes into play. This comprehensive program equips individuals with the technical knowledge and strategies required for synchronized planning, enabling them to efficiently drive product success. The ASCM SC Planning Certificate programcovers a wide range of critical topics, including understanding synchronized planning, linking business strategy to company plans, the flow of planning from business plan to execution, strategic and tactical planning, operations execution, distribution and logistics planning, and identifying technologies to support synchronous planning.
Book the certificate class, available as a self-paced E-Learning program or accompanied by a webinar series conducted by the renowned Christian Velazquez (Sales, Inventory and Operations Planning Process Manager at GRUNDFOS), until December 15, 2023, and get the ASCM membership for free! If you want to know more from Christian about S&OP, read his last guest comment.
Don't miss out on this opportunity to propel your supply chain planning career forward. Join the ASCM SC Planning Certificate program today and become part of the 10% that not only survives but thrives in the evolving world of supply chain planning.
For more information and to enroll, visit our website or contact our team today.
