Software Planning: Satisfaction is Like a Flip of a Coin

August 16, 2018
11:15 pm

This week, after ten years, I am test-driving cars. I have not owned a car for a decade. City living has come to an end and it is time for me to get some wheels. Buying a car is overwhelming. I just want one that works. I find the process of negotiation, and comparison shopping tiring. My goal is safety and comfortability. It is hard to sort through the options.
As we prepare for the Supply Chain Insights Global Summit, the Supply Chain Insights team is combing through the research data collected over the past six years. We sit on 9,000 quantitative responses and we want to better understand the drivers of supply chain excellence. Supply chain planning satisfaction is a driver of excellence.
Companies that are better at supply chain planning are better able to manage operating margins and inventory turns. However, the odds of business user satisfaction are low. In our research, we find that there is only one satisfied business user out of two. It is the same as the flip of a coin.
As I look at the data, the analogy of test-driving a car comes to mind. The gaps, as shown in Figure 1, are high. The largest is the “willingness for the software company to go the extra mile.” Most business users that I talk to feel that the software vendor always has their hand in their pocket asking for more money–maintenance, tune-ups, conferences, upgrades.
Figure 1. Supply Chain Planning Performance Elements

I feel for the users. As you look at the gaps, I hope that you do as well.
The model of car ownership is changing. Lyft/Uber provide shared rides. Zipcar and other rental car services provide car sharing. In the future, car ownership will decline. My question in this blog post is “should the supply chain planning software industry rethink it’s model as well?” Especially in light of these gaps? Here are three initial thoughts:

Maintenance. Maintenance costs of license software are 18-22%. In the heyday of planning software when average deal sizes were larger, maintenance fees were higher. There is the opportunity to rethink maintenance.
Planning As a Service? Should the focus be on outcomes? I spoke to Baxter Software this week. Their focus is service parts planning and they have progressively grown their business model to provide planning as a service (the deal includes the software along with the planning service). Since many companies struggle to retain talent, this might be a viable option.
Value-Based Planning? With the wider adoption of Software as a Service and Cloud-based Solutions, business value monitoring is more feasible. Should we center on value delivery? Should this become a new model?

As I close this post, take another look at Figure 1. Think hard about the gap of “Going the Extra Mile for the Customer.” If you are a software vendor, I hope that this gives you pause.
Have a great week. I hope to see you at the Supply Chain Insights Global Summit! The event is on September 4-7, 2018 in Philadelphia, PA.

Warning: Sidestep the Narrative of the Misguided Goldiggers

August 10, 2026 4:58 pm

Ten years ago, I started writing a book titled Stories of the Misguided Gold Diggers. The book was a collection of stories from two decades of stories of technology leaders perpetuating the myth of integrated end-to-end supply chain planning.

I dusted off the manuscript on Saturday. I think that we have a new chapter. Companies focused on putting Artificial Intelligence (AI) on top of existing architectures are putting AI Stupid on steroids.

The Myth of End-to-End Planning

July 31, 2026 9:14 pm

Supply chain planning, supply management, supply chain execution, network design, and transportation/logistics management operate in silos. Not much has changed over four decades. The connections flow back through transactional systems: order-to-cash and procure-to-pay. There is a myth that companies can buy an end-to-end supply chain management solution. This is largely a myth. Here we explain.

Lead Time: A Broken Gossamer

July 16, 2026 6:38 pm

If you are struggling with supply chain planning, dancing in the light of shiny objects, and scratching your head, please read on. My goal is to help you.

Please do not AI Stupid. What do I mean? AI Stupid is putting agents and agentics on top of existing architectures believing that making them faster and hands free add value. To me, this is fools play.

I love AI. I am excited about new technologies. To this end, I want to shine a light on how new technologies can help address the black holes and inconsistencies in today’s supply chain, which largely stem from the limitations of the first generation of supply chain planning and execution technologies. In this blog, I give you three places to start.

Do You Need a Supply Chain Coach?

July 9, 2026 5:27 pm

Supply chain is where the rubber hits the road. For a public company, over 40% of market capitalization is tied to the trade-offs between growth, operating margin, inventory management, and Return on Capital Employed.

The road for supply chain improvement is fraught with issues. Here we share some and offer some advice.

Is your Supply Chain AI Ready?

June 11, 2026 2:39 pm

A simple quiz to assess an organization’s AI readiness.

The pace of change is fast and furious. Every day, technology advances faster than we can digest. A great challenge to have.

Determining whether a supply chain is “AI-ready” is less about technology and more about the gray matter between the ears of supply chain leaders. Leadership, alignment, and clarity of goals matter.

Too few companies are clear on the definition of supply chain excellence. Measuring and rewarding functional metrics reduces the firm’s value. Putting agentics on top of today’s processes can make bad practices run faster, reducing value.

The toughest job for the supply chain leader is challenging existing supply chain paradigms that were defined by the limitations of decades of supply chain technologies. As the curtain lifts on the potential of new forms of technology, process redefinition is our opportunity, but only if we are clear on what drives value. (Here, I link to the Supply Chains to Admire reports to help you define value. The next report will be published on June 23rd, along with my Dynamic Benchmarking Product, to help you define value in the face of your AI readiness. More information about the launch is at the bottom of this blog.)

Case Study: A Scrappy Demand Management Approach

June 9, 2026 5:37 pm

This study of Franklin Sports shines a light on the work that needs to be done at the sales account level to challenge a retail forecast, and also highlights the importance of a new technique for a forecast engine — reinforcement learning.

Artificial intelligence comes in many forms — large language models, generative AI, machine learning, unstructured text mining, deep learning, neural networks, reinforcement learning, agents, and agentics. While the industry is wigging out about agentics, I think reinforcement learning is a great step forward in the journey of Artificial Intelligence.

Supply Chain Shaman