Demand Sensing, Demand Shaping and Demand Management - Are demand planners doing these activities today?
Demand Planning Net focuses on the disciplines of Demand Forecasting, Demand Planning and Demand Management besides the related areas of S&OP and Inventory Optimization.
Occasionally there is a confusion when people talk about Demand Management. Some companies and consultants call classic Demand Planning as Demand Management. Even some consulting companies call the planning function as Demand Management.The demand side of the business should be engaged in Demand creation, Demand sensing and demand shaping and finally the Demand Management. So Selling and Marketing functions are in essence Demand creators and Demand Managers.Demand Planners should play a facilitative and analytical role in the core selling function of Demand Management. They have the ability to predictive demand. They should also have the ability to understand causal effects of demand drivers.
So I see the Demand Planning function as an important partner in the Demand Management role.
Do the modern day demand planners help the company in
* Demand Sensing
* Demand Shaping
* Demand Management
I have seen Demand Planners reporting to the Supply chain function only do the last role namely as Demand Managers when there is supply shortage. They act as the bearers of the bad news to both Sales and Customers and work on rationing product.
On the other hand, Demand Planners reporting into Sales, Marketing or Finance generally play a more active role in some of the Sales Analytics function. They are also called upon to measure promotional effectiveness and pro-active promotional planning.
What is your experience?
Have you Demand-Shaped? Has your VP of Sales asked you a what-if question in the last 30 days?
By the way,
We have additional details on our consulting services in the Solutions Area. Look at the detailed Solutions consulting page at http://demandplanning.net/solutions.htm. There are four broad areas of solutions consulting:
- Usability Consulting for tools such as JDA Manugistics, i2, Oracle Demantra and SAP SCM APO Demand Planning
- Re-design and Re-implementation services for SAP APO DP
Please visit http://demandplanning.net/consulting.htm to know more about our services offerings at DPLLC.
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