The current lesson outlines the structure of the course presenting every unit as a milestone. Every unit refers to a macro process of Supply Chain Planning. Further, Integrated Business Planning is explained as a general term within Supply Chain Planning. Integrated Business Process refers to a business process used to address supply chain challenges, risks, and opportunities.
The second unit addresses Integrated Planning Processes within the previous definition, answering the question - "how can we integrate business processes in Supply Chain Planning via SAP Integrated Business Planning?".
Next unit three, presents important SAP IBP functionalities to achieve a professional user experience, such as
- Managing Master Data via MS Excel and the SAP Fiori Launchpad
- Analytics and Dashboards supported by the SAP Fiori Launchpad
- Analytic Stories supported by the SAP Fiori Launchpad
- Planning Workspace via the SAP Fiori Launchpad
Within Supply Chain Planning, the most common challenges occur when companies focus their efforts on integrating functional Planning areas. Integrated Business Planning, as a general term within Supply Chain Management, refers to macro processes such as Demand Planning, Inventory Planning and Optimization, Supply Planning, and Exception Management. This course connects a professional user experience with these as explained unit by unit as follows:
SAP IBP addresses every macro process listed before, that is, it combines Supply Chain monitoring, Sales and Operations Planning, Demand Management, Inventory Planning, and Supply Planning into a comprehensive solution, which also supports the integration of data from external systems such as SAP ERP or SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization. SAP IBP provides applications to facilitate the following key differentiators:
Balancing of demand and supply
Harmonization of Planning across corporate functions through organizational visibility and alignment
Responsive Planning with advanced algorithms, optimization, and what-if scenario simulation Planning
Demand-driven Supply Chain Planning based on Demand Sensing, analysis, and predictive forecasting
Multi-stage Inventory Optimization and improved customer service levels
End-to-end Supply Chain visibility with real-time monitoring, Analytics, alerting, and exception management
Creation of product allocation and supply plans, and ability to respond to changes with simulations and gating factor analysis