WHAT DOES A DEMAND PLANNING MANAGER DO?

Published: Oct 16, 2024 – The Demand Planning Manager analyzes market dynamics and customer data to recommend an accurate demand plan while ensuring effective communication with supply planning to resolve issues. This role focuses on improving demand plan accuracy through root cause analysis and collaboration with cross-functional teams to balance supply and demand. Additionally, the manager facilitates monthly demand review meetings, manages demand analysts, and partners with Finance to refine forecasts and support business planning.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Demand Planning Manager

1. Demand Planning Manager Tasks

  • Capacity Planning: Build dynamic capacity and supply planning scenario models and strategies to support demand scenarios, product-specific requirements, and manufacturing capabilities.
  • Production Planning: Work closely with internal and co-manufacturing production plants to prepare short and long-term production plans.
  • Project Management: Project manages the supply side of new product launches with NPI/Product Management, Sales, Sourcing, and Operations.
  • Strategic Analysis: Aid in building short and long-term manufacturing strategies with analysis and proposals to increase labor, capex, decrease COGS, and other variables that affect output and cost.
  • Process Improvement: Be a key partner to continuously improve the end-to-end Sales and Operations Planning process and presentation materials.
  • System Implementation: Collaboratively build out and lead aspects of implementing a new planning system.
  • Data Analysis: Perform ad hoc analysis and presentations for the senior leadership team.
  • Project Leadership: Independently lead projects and initiatives focused on improving productivity and simplifying processes throughout the planning organization as we quickly scale.
  • Reporting Automation: Create automated reports to drive business decisions and call-to-action triggers to highlight performance and risk.
  • Team Leadership: Lead a team of Demand Planners and ensure collaboration with cross-functional teams to maintain forecasts that align with the strategies and objectives of the business.
  • Forecasting: Utilize forecasting tools and exception reporting to improve sales forecasting at lead time for various aggregation levels in a fast-paced economy environment.
  • KPI Monitoring: Monitor KPIs to hold stakeholders accountable for the successful delivery of key strategic targets and objectives.
  • Risk Management: Represent Demand Planning in the Integrated Business Planning process to highlight risks, opportunities, and trends within the business.

2. Demand Planning Manager Overview

  • Inventory Management: Monitor stock levels ensuring movements are made on time.
  • Contingency Planning: Develop and maintain supply contingency plans.
  • Financial Analysis: Organize financial data to support business decision-making.
  • Supplier Management: Manage supplier performance, negotiate with suppliers, obtain quotes, and present new suppliers.
  • Risk Management: Identify and document risks and opportunities.
  • Order Fulfillment: Ensure purchase orders are delivered in full.
  • Sales Forecasting: Review historical sales trends, prepare forecast data, and develop forecast models.
  • Change Leadership: Be responsible for leading and supporting business change projects.
  • Efficiency Analysis: Analyze customer forecasts to maximize efficiency.
  • Process Improvement: Manage supplier relationships, improve business processes, and reduce costs.
  • Performance Analytics: Perform standard/ad hoc analytics across travel retail to support performance insights.
  • Reporting Collaboration: Work closely with BI to define standard reports and conduct ad hoc analysis.
  • Project Participation: Participate in project-related tasks, such as identifying ways to reduce lead time to customers by changing sourcing routes.

3. Demand Planning Manager Job Description

  • Category Oversight: Oversee daily activities of the category and guide the team.
  • Cross-functional collaboration: Work with category managers, category buyers, supply chain analysts, supply planning, warehouse operations, marketing, and demand planning peers.
  • Risk Mitigation: Identify demand forecast risks and develop effective mitigation plans.
  • Demand Planning: Develop a demand plan based on business trends and demand patterns.
  • Issue Resolution: Analyze and troubleshoot demand-related issues in a timely and accurate manner.
  • Budget Development: Assist in developing annual budgets and cost-effectiveness initiatives.
  • Reporting: Develop routine and ad-hoc demand-related reports for management.
  • Meeting Coordination: Schedule forecast review meetings with management and the category regularly.
  • Process Improvement: Maintain demand planning processes to improve forecast accuracy.
  • Activity Coordination: Work with the team to plan, coordinate, and execute demand planning activities.
  • Forecast Updating: Update forecasts for new products, seasonal products, discounts, promotions, and new regions.
  • Inventory Management: Oversee and maintain optimal inventory levels in the warehouse, including inventory planning.
  • Vendor Management: Work with vendors to maintain optimal delivery performance.
  • Product Ordering: Order extended-line products and work with the extended-line team internally in travel retail.

4. Demand Planning Manager Functions

  • Team Leadership: Lead the planning team, ensuring fill rate, inventory levels, and supplier DIFOT are achieving set targets.
  • System Integrity: Maintain the functionality and integrity of the demand forecast and material requirement planning (MRP) systems.
  • Demand Forecasting: Determine demand forecast in collaboration with internal stakeholders to ensure alignment with growth expectations and market conditions.
  • Forecast Analysis: Measure forecast accuracy, identify trends, investigate the root cause of errors, and take corrective action.
  • Inventory Strategy: Establish an inventory strategy that ensures business objectives are being met and execute monthly orders and forward purchase plans with suppliers.
  • Sales Performance Monitoring: Monitor the performance of actual sales to forecast and expedite/de-expedite purchase orders with suppliers where required.
  • Supplier Performance Management: Measure supplier DIFOT performance and lead corrective action discussions with suppliers.
  • Freight Forwarder Management: Manage the relationship and performance of the Freight Forwarder in line with Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
  • Planning Management: Manage daily planning activities, supervise staff, and allocate tasks.
  • KPI Definition: Define and set clear and challenging Key Performance Indicators for the department aligned with company goals and objectives.
  • Strategic Collaboration: Work closely with the VP of Supply Chain for strategic initiatives to streamline and create a more sustainable supply chain.
  • Process Implementation: Set up and define the demand planning process and lead its implementation to forecast future demand and trends on short-, medium-, and long-term horizons.
  • ERP Accuracy: Ensure the accuracy of ERP parameters through periodic updates and monitoring of changes in ways of working.

5. Demand Planning Manager Accountabilities

  • Demand Planning Strategy: Create an overall Demand Planning strategy for all customer accounts, set annual objectives, and develop metrics and KPIs to support functional and company goals.
  • Demand Forecasting: Deliver an accurate and cross-functionally aligned 12-month rolling demand plan.
  • Information Flow Management: Ensure the constant and accurate flow of information from the demand planning output to the supply planning team promptly.
  • Data Utilization: Utilize point-of-sale data, customer inventory, promotional calendar, and strong analytics to develop item-level forecasting and replenishment plans.
  • Meeting Leadership: Lead mini/pre-sales and Operation Planning meetings for strategic channels and product types to align with key stakeholders on year-to-go forecast expectations.
  • Cross-Department Collaboration: Collaborate with marketing, sales, and finance to understand marketing programs, new product introductions, pricing changes, promotions, and events to meet customer demand.
  • Consensus Process Leadership: Lead the monthly consensus process based on information gained to develop a forecast that meets supply chain service, inventory goals, and financial forecasts.
  • Inventory Optimization: Optimize inventory levels and tracking to meet customer, operational, product, and financial/accounting needs.
  • Ad-Hoc Analysis: Perform ad-hoc analysis, including developing forecasts for new product launches and managing inventory for product transitions.
  • Problem-Solving: Problem-solving and escalating supply and forecast issues.
  • Supply Chain Partnership: Partner with supply planning to understand the supply chain implications of forecast changes and support improved service to customers.
  • Forecast Error Tracking: Track weekly and monthly forecast errors to identify contributing factors and adjust the necessary item and/or inventory levels.
  • Continuous Improvement Projects: Lead special projects for continuous improvement on behalf of the Demand Planning organization and within planning tools.
  • IT Automation: Drive IT improvements needed for automation for the Demand Planning team.

6. Demand Planning Manager Job Summary

  • Team Building: Build an engineering and data team that will automate all main demand planning and supply chain tools.
  • Demand Estimation: Estimate future product demand, analyze inventory flow, develop efficient forecasts, and purchase automated models to ensure the right inventory levels in each warehouse.
  • Financial Partnership: Partner with Finance to deliver inventory and operations cash flow forecasts and meet revenue, gross profit, and turnover targets.
  • Management Reporting: Provide deep analysis and reporting for Senior Management.
  • Detail Orientation: Maintain high attention to detail for continuous improvement in the forecast and inventory accuracy.
  • Team Leadership: Lead the demand planning team, demand management activities, and demand planning strategy to deliver best-in-class forecasting processes, metrics, and behaviors.
  • Project Participation: Participate in special projects, providing leadership on cross-functional teams.
  • Inventory Coordination: Work with service and distribution centers and key suppliers to set up inventory parameters, develop forecasting processes, and improve service levels.
  • Team Support: Coordinate, manage, and support the activities of the Demand Planning Team.
  • Data Analysis: Supervise the collection and analysis of commercial data and activities associated with customers and products.
  • Market Understanding: Work with sales, marketing, and customer service to better understand and interpret market factors that will impact the demand plan.
  • Process Design: Design and maintain a demand planning process capable of meeting forecast accuracy and bias goals.
  • Continuous Improvement: Develop a culture that continuously improves the quality of the demand signal, instilling industry best practices, as well as training and development techniques.

7. Demand Planning Manager Responsibilities

  • Team Leadership: Lead a multicultural Demand Planning team in France and Austria.
  • Strategy Deployment: Deploy the demand strategy and drive, challenge, and negotiate within the organization and across all stakeholders.
  • Change Management: Drive change management to simplify processes and systems and improve operational efficiency and forecast accuracy.
  • Global Demand Responsibility: Overall responsibility for the global demand plan for Winter Sports Equipment brands and categories.
  • Demand Generation: Generate the monthly global demand plan based on market intelligence and diagnostics, working closely with relevant stakeholders.
  • Demand Planning Mastery: Master the demand planning process, guard demand planning accuracy, and drive risk and opportunity analysis.
  • Forecast Analysis: Review, analyze, and challenge the forecast, conciliating between the risk of stocks and the risk of shortages/delays.
  • Supply-Demand Reconciliation: Reconcile supply versus demand to improve product availability while reducing overstock risk.
  • Inventory Management: Support inventory, SKU control, and challenge range efficiency, highlighting non-performers to Product Management and Commercial teams.
  • Sales Operations Contribution: Effectively contribute to the Sales and Operations Planning process by preparing and facilitating monthly Sales and Operation Planning Demand Reviews.
  • Business Interaction: Lead the demand plan review process and drive interactions with other areas of the business to ensure the best possible demand plan.
  • Priority Alignment: Maintain regular interactions with the BU’s and functions to align on priorities and goals.
  • ERP Integrity: Develop and manage processes that maintain ERP data integrity.
  • Reporting Development: Develop and maintain standardized and custom reports in both Excel and QlikView.

8. Demand Planning Manager General Responsibilities

  • Demand Planning Delivery: Ensure consistent delivery of an effective demand plan that comprises a rolling 18-month unbiased forecast, improving accuracy and avoiding out-of-stock.
  • Cross-Functional Liaison: Liaise with cross-functional partners to obtain enrichments, evaluate, and incorporate changes into demand plans, and document reasons for change.
  • Forecast Maintenance: Ensure the forecast is maintained and updated as intended in SAP and any other related system.
  • Metric Preparation: Prepare each month the required demand planning metrics with the corresponding root cause analysis and proposed action plans.
  • Continuous Improvement: Responsible for the identification, selection, and implementation of continuous improvement initiatives to support demand planning accuracy, business planning, and OTIF.
  • Capability Integration: Integrate new capabilities into existing forecasting processes and system architecture (e.g., analytical tools to support demand planning).
  • Automation Improvement: Drive automation improvements (e.g., automatic identification of demand exceptions).
  • Process Documentation: Create and maintain process documentation/task flow.
  • Ownership Demonstration: Demonstrate ownership of demand planning and management processes that are trusted across the company.
  • Review Leadership: Lead demand planning review within the Sales and Operation Planning monthly cycle.
  • Point of Contact: Serve as the main point of contact for business partners concerning sales analytics, sales trends, and future forecasts.
  • Work Atmosphere: Keep the work atmosphere fun by maintaining a light and welcoming environment.
  • Business Process Ownership: Serve as the business process owner for all processes, software applications, and data required to support the demand planning functions.
  • Data Analysis: Provide data analysis where appropriate.

9. Demand Planning Manager Key Accountabilities

  • Team Mentorship: Mentor and further develop a small team responsible for Demand Forecast Planning and Supply/Materials Planning.
  • Process Improvement: Assess current processes and continue to revise and improve them to drive Sales and Operations Planning performance.
  • Data Analysis: Interrogate historical data and collaborate with the Sales and Marketing functions to optimize and improve Demand Forecast Accuracy at the SKU level across multiple territories.
  • Supply Planning Integration: Use Demand Forecast to drive Supply Planning and ensure that changes in the Forecast are rapidly incorporated into an updated Supply Plan for release to material, component, and packaging suppliers.
  • Material Availability Optimization: Ensure close collaboration with the Purchasing function to optimize material availability.
  • Kitting Operation Oversight: Oversee the planning of the kitting operation as part of the Supply Plan.
  • Professional Development: Take responsibility for 1-2-1's and the professional development of the team.
  • Forecasting Collaboration: Engage with Forecasting Analytics to provide business cases to drive business opportunities and improve forecast accuracy.
  • Communication Management: Communicate relevant trends and insights to the appropriate teams and ensure that the flow of communication reaches the proper levels of visibility.
  • Sales Order Management: Review and manage customers' sales orders linked with sales performance and stock levels.
  • Agile Response: Drive agile action to address new demand trends at a weekly cadence and incorporate the insights into a long-term plan.
  • Monthly Forecast Generation: Generate the monthly item-level forecast for travel retail on a global level and secure a strong flow of goods plan between expected consumer sales and selling-in plans.
  • Sales and Operations Planning Ownership: Be the owner of the monthly Sales and Operations Planning process within BU Travel Retail, facilitating alignment between bottoms-up forecasts, marketing plans, and sales expectations.

10. Demand Planning Manager Essential Functions

  • Market Analytics Management: Manage the analytics of market dynamics, customer-specific POS, new/lost business, constraints, and promotional opportunities to enable recommending a demand plan with insights from cross-functional teams.
  • Demand Plan Handoff: Ensure demand management’s timely hand-off of a robust and accurate demand plan to supply planning, resolving issues as they arise with signals.
  • Accuracy Improvement: Manage the improvement of Demand Plan accuracy, eliminate bias, and strive to understand variation impacting results.
  • Root Cause Analysis: Ensure that root cause analysis and corrective actions are completed.
  • Supply-Demand Balancing: Identify solutions with cross-functional teams to balance supply with demand and maximize customer service.
  • Demand Review Facilitation: Facilitate the monthly demand review meeting for assigned customers/categories, providing robust analysis.
  • Insight Communication: Ensure assumptions and insights are understood and highlight gaps and exceptions for ease of decision-making by senior leadership.
  • Process Consistency: Drive consistency throughout the process as well as alignment from all key stakeholders in Sales, Marketing, Demand Control, Customer Service, and Supply Chain.
  • Team Management: Manage the demand analysts and drive process improvement initiatives, training, KPI reporting, and systems.
  • Productivity Solutions: Work to implement improvements in demand accuracy as well as productivity solutions for the team.
  • Forecasting Tool Utilization: Ensure the statistical forecasting tool is used effectively.
  • Financial Partnership: Partner with Finance to support quarterly and annual forecast needs related to annual business plan and projection development.
  • Analytical Support: Take responsibility for providing support and analysis.
  • Forecast Refinement: Refine forecasts based on the latest information weekly by using statistical tools and complete system submission.
  • Sales Collaboration: Monthly work with the sales team on flow plans by channel, incorporating portfolio information, marketing campaigns, and stores’ operational status.
Relevant Information
What Does A Demand Generation Manager Do?
What Does A Demand Manager Do?