ABC of Integrated Business Planning: Focus on what is important

Integrated Business Planning (IBP), or next-generation Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) is a common-sense process designed for effective decision making. It allows senior management to plan and manage the entire organisation over a 24-month horizon or more, aligning strategic and tactical plans each month, and allocating the critical resources – people, equipment, inventory, materials, time, and money – to satisfy customers in the most profitable way.

But how do you decide where the process should focus? One key technique is ABC analysis, which divides items (inventory, customers, suppliers, and many other areas), into three separate categories, based upon importance, from the high-value A items to the marginal C items. This white paper examines ABC analysis and the benefits of categorisation to yield further benefits for your business from an IBP process.