Ask five companies what their biggest challenge is, and chances are high that ‘supply chain’ will be a common answer. With soaring customer expectations, global competition, volatile markets, and regulatory changes, supply chain management has become a critical hurdle across many sectors.

What’s order-based planning (OBP) and why get started with it?

Enter order-based planning (OBP) in SAP IBP: an advanced approach that creates supply plans using real-time operational data. This innovation enhances the responsiveness of supply chain planning. By relying on detailed data from different sources and numerous types of orders, supply planning becomes an agile, dynamic, short-term process that adapts seamlessly to changes in stock levels and other real-time fluctuations.

5 key benefits of order-based planning in SAP IBP

Magic happens when operations and execution are in close collaboration with planning. These 5 benefits are just a few of the ways that OBP can transform your supply chain processes and convert challenges into new opportunities.

Rapid, flexible decision-making

OBP’s built-in dynamism enables planners to respond quickly to changing market conditions and customer orders, boosting both agility and responsiveness. With native integration into SAP S/4HANA, it enables real-time action, significantly strengthening the master planning process.

Optimised inventory management

Injecting real-time order data into the planning process unlocks a highly accurate picture of inventory status, enabling businesses to optimise stock levels. The result? Reduced excess inventory, lower storage costs, and stock availability that is tailored to customer demand.

Happier customers

Thanks to responsive inventory management and fewer shortages enabled by OBP, customers can count on fast, timely deliveries and products that are available when and where they’re needed.

More robust plans

Achieve better planning results by applying priorities and constraints in OBP. Algorithms enable flexible modelling, leading to plans that can finely balance capacity use vs. plans generated without constraints – a capability that is particularly essential in master planning.

Efficiency through integration with long-term planning

While OBP focuses on short-term planning, SAP Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) stays in place for forecasting and long-term planning purposes. The results from S&OP feed into master planning, which initiates scheduling and in turn sets the starting conditions for S&OP. This feedback loop enables a seamless transition between long- and short-term planning, for a more efficient, responsive supply chain.

Key features of SAP Integrated Business Planning

With SAP IBP, you gain insight in what your customers need and what you can supply – at every moment. The solution contains several components, each with its own key advantages. Where you get started depends on your specific business needs and pains.

Discover the key features >

Build innovation and high quality into your supply chain

To sum up, order-based planning in SAP IBP isn’t just about enabling a more efficient supply chain. It comes with a wide range of knock-on effects that will have significant positive impacts on your business – leading to a reputation for quality and customers eager to share their positive experiences.

As your business navigates the complexities of today’s market, an agile, proactive approach to supply chain management gives you an edge over your competitors and sets a new standard for supply chain excellence. Be the strongest link with OBP.