Centralization of supply chain decision-making enables organizations to consolidate expertise into a single team. This team will have better visibility of the entire supply chain, allowing them to facilitate more efficient processes and reduce the time it takes to react to challenges. Because of this, it is often the most efficient way to operate. But there are several instances when decentralized planning makes sense for certain companies. Many companies may see the benefits of centralized management but are not yet equipped to make the transition due to budgetary or time constraints. Additionally, some product categories are often managed by stores due to a lack of data. Either way, a robust planning system should be flexible enough to support and automate both centralized and decentralized operations.