Cart
(0)
Sign In
IBF's world-leading consulting services focus on improving People, Processes, Analytics, and Technology to advance your S&OP and demand planning capabilities to a mature level. Our team of world-renowned consultants includes former VPs of Demand Planning and VPs of Supply Chain from multi-billion dollar companies who will guide you in implementing industry-leading best practices. If you aim to enhance cash flow, forecast accuracy, customer service, inventory turnover, and EBITDA through effective business planning, your transformation journey begins with IBF.
IBF consulting services are designed to identify and improve a company’s maturity level in demand planning, supply planning, forecasting and S&OP/ IBP. We identify gaps in your process, and recommend a path forward to reach a higher level of company performance.
Companies that perform at a higher level of planning maturity benefit from:
- More accurate forecasts
- Lower Inventory/ Higher Turns
- Increased sales
- Greater cash-flow and EBITDA
- Greater shareholder value
- Achieving strategic goals
- High functioning teams that collaborate effectively, both internally and externally
We evaluate companies based on four interdependent dimensions: People, Process, Analytics & Data, and Technology.
Once complete, IBF presents a score for each dimension to the client. The scores are placed on a maturity curve and measured against IBF’s proprietary maturity model, which reveals to the client how they compare to best practices as well as best-in-class companies. Based on this score, the client is then categorized as:
- Emerging
- Essential
- Next Level
- Vanguard or Best-in-Class
Along with scoring, IBF provides actionable recommendations to the client towards reaching the next level of maturity, and eventually, best-in-class levels. And through IBF's Consulting, we can provide the ongoing support you're looking for.
Try Our Free-To-Use S&OP Self Assessment Tool and Maturity Model
Identify your current level of S&OP maturity and get specific recommendations across People, Process, Analytics and Technology to take you to the next stage in your S&OP evolution. It’s free and easy to use. Try it now.With IBF’s 4 decades of experience in business planning support, and its extensive knowledge base, IBF is in a unique position to add value to companies and drive transformational change. IBF is trusted to provide an unbiased, independent view of companies' planning and analytics capabilities. And although IBF provides services to support companies in their technology/software selection with its knowledge of the many planning systems available, we are not affiliated with any one software vendor, unlike many consultancy firms.
Demand planning is the process of balancing supply and demand, relying on both cross-functional collaboration (S&OP) and forecasting to ensure timely and complete product deliveries to customers. Effective forecasting and collaboration in the demand planning process maximize sales, reduce operational costs, and improve key KPIs such as cash flow, customer service, EBITDA, and more. We assist companies by providing custom-made recommendations for improvement and, if needed, by implementing demand planning processes from scratch. Additionally, we help existing planning organizations advance to higher levels of maturity, ultimately striving for Best-in-Class status.
Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) is a collaborative process that connects Finance, Marketing, Sales, Production, Supply Chain, and Customer Service to provide qualitative and quantitative inputs for forecasting and planning. An effective S&OP process shares valuable information about customers, promotions, and supply constraints to create optimal demand plans. We assist clients in building sustainable S&OP processes from scratch and revitalizing those that have lost focus. This can ultimately lead to Integrated Business Planning (IBP), which combines sales, operational, and financial plans to drive company strategy based on a comprehensive understanding of demand, resources, constraints, and capabilities.
Forecasting is the foundation of the demand planning process, providing crucial numbers for Production and Supply Chain functions, as well as any other area requiring predictions. IBF assists organizations in recruiting and retaining the right talent, enhancing their skills, and optimizing processes. We also provide support in selecting technology for automating forecasting. We can help you harness the power of advanced analytics, including machine learning and predictive modeling, to uncover future business expectations, using both time series and sophisticated cause-and-effect models. No matter where you are in your forecasting journey, we can empower you to leverage your data as a potent tool for growth.
Increasingly, demand planning is recognized as the hub for centralized analytics and Business Intelligence. Forecast analysts' skills are harnessed to provide insights across the entire organization, optimizing commercial opportunities and operational efficiencies. IBF assists companies in establishing centralized analytics functions that utilize advanced predictive analytics and Big Data to uncover hidden opportunities and insights. Marketing promotions are just one beneficiary of this capability, using these insights to develop highly targeted promotions. A core analytics function not only empowers other functions but also enables a company to proactively respond to demand changes, revolutionizing supply chain management.