What-if scenario simulations, cross-functional collaboration and record-keeping not only drive successful sales and operations planning. They are also the backbone of concurrent planning. Rejecting the traditional iterative and sequential S&OP cycle, concurrent planning is the process of making and managing synchronized plans across multiple time horizons, business processes and organizational boundaries all at the same time. It extends beyond a company’s internal functions to connect all nodes in the supply chain (including external partners such as suppliers, contract manufacturers and logistics service providers), enabling end-to-end visibility and control for improved cross-functional coordination and faster, more effective decision-making. In short, it’s about connecting all data, processes and people in a single, harmonious system, allowing companies to plan expected performance, monitor progress and respond to disconnects in the supply chain as they happen. Concurrent planning helps solve the planning horizon challenges many organizations now face — namely, bridging activities for short-term planning (low-impact, high-frequency events) with long-term planning (high-impact, low-frequency events). The cadence and scale of these planning activities makes it difficult to synchronize them across multiple horizons. In most organizations, short-term planning is a result of distributed and siloed decision-making, while long-term planning is centralized and hierarchical. Concurrent planning allows for a seamless approach to both through a more networked and democratized process.  When implemented through S&OP supply chain management software, concurrent planning looks very different from the typical monthly S&OP cycle — and can shrink planning cycles and response times down to just a few hours.