It takes courage to define an executable strategy, to be transparent with numbers and assumptions, to make tough trade-offs, and to sign off on collective accountability.
Only when leadership dares to take that step — and set the example for the rest of the organisation to follow — does the supply chain stop being a support or cost function, and become the mechanism that delivers your strategy. This is the prerequisite for a successful IBP — and consequently for ITP.
Because making your supply chain truly successful is not just about better tools or tighter processes.
Ambition is easy to write down: largest, best, most advanced.
But a strategy only lives when leaders make clear choices.
Choices that define what your organisation must deliver — and what it should not.
Choices that guide decision-making in the supply chain: from IBP trade-offs to everyday operational calls.
Why? Because every decision impacts at least two of these elements: Service, Cost, Capital.
And isn’t that, ultimately, what you want to control?
IBP connects the current reality and future market outlook with commercial ambition. On that basis, leadership must make deliberate decisions on demand — and how supply can or cannot follow — taking into account capabilities, constraints and forward-looking financial predictions.
A successful IBP process requires leadership to sign off on the information and numbers they bring to the table. With this accountability anchored in leadership, IBP becomes a constructive, future-oriented business planning process — not a supply chain routine. It replaces fragmented reviews with one integrated cycle, where strategy, performance and financial outlooks are steered in unison.
ITP begins where IBP hands the plan over to operations. It is the last mile!
It defines how customer service, planners, buyers and schedulers execute the plan and deal with short-term changes.
With clear rules for handling deviations (e.g. lagging demand, late suppliers, urgent requests), prioritisation in case of conflicts, decision rights and escalation, ITP ensures the IBP plan is executed in the near term with control and consistency — even when surprises occur.