State of the Industry With supply chain planning, trading partners start by establishing supply chain success measures.
All companies craft a joint business plan, with agreed upon targets and activities.
Elements of the plan include planned promotions, expected inventory levels, policy changes, and product changes. Trading partners share forecasts and replenishment plans, and work together to resolve planning exceptions. As these plans are executed, all companies measure performance, share the data, and resolve operating exceptions. Changes in planning technology allow companies to share information and manage exceptions quickly and easily. Supply chain planning vendors have enhanced their solutions to provide more integrated and robust demand and supply planning functionality.