A big thank you to Mauro Ferrari for being an inspiring guest speaker and to the excellent group of IBP and Business Leads who joined the last IBP / IBSing session! Your contributions led to deep insights on how to master seasonality in IBP.
In our icebreaker, we asked participants about seasonal products they’ve already planned—and the variety was impressive! From 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 ❄️⛓️ to 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐞 🍏🥧, 𝐟𝐥𝐮 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 💉🤒 to 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 🍧, it’s clear that managing seasonal demand is a challenge across industries.
Given this expertise, it was no surprise that in just 15 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬, the group identified nearly 100 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 to navigate seasonal demand across its phases. Here’s a summary of key takeaways:
𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 – Laying the foundation
✔️ Get the 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 and align with trade on pipeline volumes
✔️ Establish 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 and define service levels
✔️ Implement 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 and scenario planning
✔️ Secure 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 and align on extra capacity
✔️ Ensure a 𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 for smooth execution
𝐈𝐧-𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 – Staying agile and responsive
✔️ Adjust volumes dynamically based on 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬
✔️ 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 (e.g., temperature, promotions, competitor actions)
✔️ Use 𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 for critical products
✔️ 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 with product availability
✔️ IBP 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬
𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 – Managing excess and transition
✔️𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 while balancing service levels
✔️ Optimize 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 through targeted promotions
✔️ Implement 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬
✔️ 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐬 and plan financial write-offs
✔️ Compare 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐬. 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 for learnings
𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 – Learning and preparing for the next cycle
✔️ 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 to identify improvements
✔️ Adjust 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬to flatten future demand peaks
✔️ Review 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬and investment needs
✔️ Strengthen 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 for managing seasonality
✔️ Plan early for 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬
A fantastic discussion with practical takeaways!