WHAT DOES A DEMAND PLANNER DO?
Published: Oct 15, 2024 – The Demand Planner manages customer sample needs and creates timely sample requirements plans in collaboration with project teams. This role includes overseeing order processing and production planning for key samples, ensuring effective inventory control, and developing rolling forecasts based on sales data. Additionally, the planner monitors performance indicators, manages inventory levels, and prepares data for weekly planning meetings to balance supply chain performance with costs.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Demand Planner
1. Demand Planner Overview
- Demand Forecasting: Developing demand forecasts (operational forecasts) to play a key role in the demand planning function.
- Rule Development: Developing the rules for prioritizing forecasts by taking business focus into account.
- Forecast Accuracy: Measuring, reporting, and improving forecast accuracy.
- Variance Monitoring: Monitoring and reporting considerable variances between budgets, business plans, and sales forecasts.
- Root-Cause Analysis: Leading root-cause analysis into variance discrepancies.
- Team Interaction: Interacting with a cross-functional team to understand demand drivers.
- Expectation Management: Handling expectations and coordinating with production planners.
- New Product Forecasting: Forecasting sales of new products with an in-house Product Development team.
- Research Coordination: Coordinating cross-functional research activities to reconcile variances and refine the forecast model.
- Supply Planning Feedback: Providing feedback regarding Supply Planning to develop inventory strategies for existing and new products.
- Inventory Improvement: Providing input into the development of improved inventory practices and policies.
2. Demand Planner Job Description
- Global Planning Execution: Execute Global Planning activities by being the focal point of communication with the Business Unit and Operations leaders.
- Reporting Design: Design, coordinate, and publish periodic reports about forecast/inventory and operations relevant to current business requirements.
- Sales and Operations Facilitation: Facilitate/lead Sales and Operations Planning in collaboration with PLM and Operations.
- Inventory Analysis: Analyse and agree on inventory targets at a global and plant level.
- Inventory Management: Manage inventory levels in assigned regions and business units, working closely with operations, sales, and product line management for supply chain optimization.
- NPI Engagement: Engage in NPI activities with Engineering/Sales and PLM to support speed-to-market initiatives.
- Supply Chain Management: Manage supply chain system parameters for the entire product life cycle.
- Procurement Collaboration: Work closely with procurement and vendors in managing contract manufacturing products where applicable.
- Supply and Capacity Balancing: Balance global supply and capacity to provide the highest level of customer service and operational efficiency.
- Demand Planning: Deliver accurate and timely demand plans for select product groups and channels.
3. Demand Planner Functions
- Stock Monitoring: Monitoring stock cover and availability to optimize replenishment volumes.
- Sales Review Participation: Participating in the weekly sales review for categories to understand opportunities to drive sales through replenishment.
- Cross-Department Collaboration: Working with the Merchandise Planning, Product, and Pricing teams to understand changes that may need to be reflected in replenishment levels.
- Store Communication: Communicating with store teams to deal with queries or support with stock requirements for local events.
- Performance Review: Conduct regular business and performance reviews related to demand and driving root cause problem-solving and action planning/execution to improve forecast accuracy.
- Demand System Enhancement: Driving demand system enhancements that align with best-in-class processes.
- Supply and Demand Monitoring: Global responsibility for monitoring, planning, and optimizing supply and demand needs.
- Data-Driven Supply Optimization: Supply optimization based on data analytics evaluating capacity and costs.
- Stakeholder Coordination: Operating within various parts and levels of the organization to coordinate data and balance input from stakeholders at production sites as well as sales teams.
- Production Planning Evaluation: Evaluate supply and demand to organize production plans and assess business opportunities.
- Team Coordination: Close communication and coordination in the international, interdisciplinary team.
- SCM Data Management: Securing, controlling, and if necessary, procuring SCM (supply chain management) system-relevant data.
4. Demand Planner Accountabilities
- Customer Needs Acquisition: Acquisition, review, and consolidation of customer sample needs.
- Sample Requirements Planning: Creation and timely provision of a sample requirements plan after close coordination with the project team.
- Production Scenario Implementation: Creation and implementation of phase-in and phase-out scenarios as well as weekly adjustment of the production plan.
- Order Processing: Order processing and production planning (order fulfillment and order management) for key customer sampling, including coordination and monitoring of all necessary process steps and deliveries to the customer.
- Inventory Control: Responsible for inventory control (in terms of quantity and quality).
- Forecast Development: Create and develop rolling forecasts using sales, market trends, and judgmental input.
- Inventory Management: Manage inventory levels, identify exceptions, and develop resolutions to large variances in these levels to escalate or take corrective action.
- Data Preparation: Prepare data and material for weekly planning meetings with buyers and sales teams.
- Supply and Demand Balancing: Assist the Supply Planners in balancing supply and demand for assigned parts.
- Demand Forecast Management: Assigned a Customer Group/Sales Team to manage and ensure correct demand forecast in the planning system.
- Supply Chain Performance Optimization: Ensure the right balance between high supply chain performance, costs, and capital, despite potentially conflicting objectives and levers, obstacles, and setbacks.
- Operational Performance Monitoring: Monitor operational performance indicators and system alerts and report to senior management.
5. Demand Planner Responsibilities
- Demand Planning Framework: Understand and utilize the Demand Planning 8-Blocks Framework as a guide for day-to-day engagements.
- Statistical Forecast Development: Develop statistical baseline forecasts utilizing statistical models in APO/SAS and modify the forecasts with insights from commercial teams and Capacity Planning to arrive at a final operational forecast that is transmitted to Supply Planning and other upstream departments.
- Innovation Forecasting: Develop and own innovation forecasts using Innovation Volume Validation as a guide (pipeline forecasts, phase-in/phase-outs, etc.) and transition new items to statistical modeling where appropriate.
- Collaborative Demand Alignment: Facilitate external collaborative demand plan alignments with Customer Replenishment/Fulfillment Partners.
- Monthly IBP Facilitation: Lead and facilitate the monthly IBP meetings (Demand Reviews, Weekly Demand Controls, etc.) within the assigned Customer Clusters.
- Sales Opportunity Validation: Validate short-term sales opportunities and all volume requirements for customer activities and promotions with Supply Planners.
- Continuous Improvement: Continuous improvement in their assigned departmental horizontal work process.
- Forecast Error Analysis: Root cause, reason-coding, and improvement actions for forecast errors and bias outside of tolerance for their assigned Customer Clusters.
- Promotion Governance: Governance of promotion items undersells within the assigned Customer Cluster to bring distress/donate/destroy item awareness to Customer Sales Executives.
- Industry Trend Understanding: Develop a detailed understanding of product and industry trends to further improve forecast accuracy.
- Business Trend Merging: Merge business trends (internal and external) with marketing initiatives to enhance the forecast while also integrating input from sales, digital marketing, product management, and other key stakeholders.
- Reporting: Provide sales, marketing, finance, and operations teams with sales and supply reports.