A Day In The Life Of A Demand Planner

When you’re in the business of supply chain management, nothing matters more than your inventory. Having enough of it at the appropriate times (while reducing unnecessary inventory levels) is a delicate balance and requires the expertise of a skillful demand planner. 

Demand planners are charged with predicting the amount of future product demands, based on analytics and data. A day in the life of a demand planner can include things such as reviewing and analyzing data, forecasting future needs, reporting, and inventory management, and this role requires a mixture of technical and interpersonal skills. It often includes managing software, such as inventory analytics programs.

While the day in the life of a demand planner can be unpredictable, here is everything you need to know about the role, and what you can expect to see a demand planner taking ownership of. 

Why Demand Planners Matter

The day in the life of a demand planner includes items, tasks, and goals that are critical to supply chain management. That’s because demand planners are responsible for predicting consumer demands for products, while striving to find the right number of products to stock.

It’s a fine line: if too much product is stocked, it could cause the company to bleed cash unnecessarily. But if stock is short, it could lead to stockouts and other supply issues. Overall, demand planners are responsible for optimizing inventory levels, minimizing costs, and enhancing customer satisfaction. This is done by processes such as demand forecasting and data analysis.

Demand planning is a crucial supply chain function because with accurate forecasting and analysis, businesses can lower their overhead costs, reduce operational inefficiencies, and boost customer satisfaction. 

On the other hand, inaccurate demand forecasting can lead to consequences such as stockouts (resulting in lost sales) and costly excess inventory (which sits on shelves). 

When supply chain managers have excellent demand planners on their side, they’re able to make the best-informed decisions possible, backed by the most accurate forecasts available.  Demand planning is a strategic tool which supports business growth, reduces supply chain waste, minimizes risks, and boosts overall performance. 

A Demand Planner’s Day-to-Day

A demand planner’s day-to-day is never certain, but there are some tasks and responsibilities that are certain to pop up. Here are some of the main responsibilities that a demand planner can expect to encounter over the course of a day.

Accurate Forecasting

One of the main responsibilities of a demand planner is to use forecasting models to predict and estimate the future demand for an organization’s products. With forecasting, demand planners use historical data to create predictions about how much inventory will be needed during what periods of time. These forecasting models can consider things like seasonality, launches, and consumer demand. 

Data for forecasting can come from diverse sources, including historical sales data, market research, and general consumer forecasts. This data is used to identify patterns and trends and make educated predictions about what future inventory needs might look like. 

These predictions can help decision-makers understand how much stock they should purchase at what times, which items might soon be in high demand, and which items you don’t need to purchase more of just yet.

Data Analysis

Data analysis is a core responsibility of demand planners and can help with many of their tasks and functions. 

Data analysis tools and insights involve taking the historical supply chain and warehouse data, and distilling conclusions from it. Data analysis requires taking supply chain trends into consideration, such as seasonal demand forecasting, as well as real-time updates and buying habits.

The daily data analysis duties of a demand planner might include reviewing data such as historical sales data, market research reports, and customer forecasts. They might also then use data analysis tools to extract insights and identify patterns in the data, to assist with forecasting and predictions. 

Inventory Management

As demand planners work through their forecasts and data, they will come to many conclusions regarding inventory. 

Because of this, they’ll typically work closely with those responsible for inventory management, to ensure the warehouse always has optimal inventory levels. This might involve reviewing current stock, monitoring inventory turnover rates, anticipating expected demand, and identifying any potential stockouts or excess inventory situations. 

Market And Industry Analysis

There are many factors that can influence warehouse operations and stock needs, both internal and external. When it comes to external factors, both the overall market and industry can influence stock needs. 

Part of a demand planner’s job is to spend time analyzing the market and overall industry, to spot potential trends and anticipate risks. This might include assessing competitors, watching economic trends, and monitoring customer behavior within the industry. 

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Collaborating with Stakeholders

Demand planners don’t just operate on their own in a silo. Instead, their role is really that of the central figure who is responsible for aligning supply and demand, by taking things like market trends, customer insights, and other factors into consideration. 

This means that demand planners also need to collaborate with relevant stakeholders, both internal and external. These relevant stakeholders might include warehouse managers, and those relevant to production and supply chain. 

Demand planners can also benefit from working closely with certain stakeholders. For example, they can collaborate with sales to understand customer behavior, sales trends, and to gather input on forecasts. 

They can also coordinate with the marketing team to collect information on upcoming sales and promotions, product launches, advertising campaigns, or pricing strategies that can influence demand. 

Risk Assessment

Supply chain management is not without risk, and demand planners are there to help assess and avoid things that might negatively impact operations. Some of these risks might include changes in market trends, tumultuous economic conditions, or unpredictable competitor moves. 

Other internal risks can include things like supply chain disruptions and demand volatility. 

Demand planners can conduct risk assessments to improve the accuracy of forecasts, reduce uncertain variables, and minimize the impact of unexpected events. Then, they can look for ways to mitigate and reduce risks. 

Performance Monitoring

Working as a demand planner is not a “set it and forget it” responsibility. Part of a demand planner’s responsibilities include monitoring the performance of their forecasts, assessing their accuracy, and finding ways to improve them.  Demand planners continuously assess how accurate their forecasts are, by comparing them to actual sales and stock data. 

Undoubtedly, there will be some deviations between the forecasts, and what occurs. It’s then the demand planner’s responsibility to find these areas of forecasting error, to look for the underlying causes, and use that knowledge to improve the accuracy of future forecasts. They might also use key performance indicators (KPIs) to track and monitor the effectiveness of their forecasting efforts.

Reporting

Demand planners work with a lot of data and draw conclusions from it. With this process comes the need to report their analysis and findings, and to communicate their recommendations. Reporting serves as a bridge between demand planners and their stakeholders, to ensure alignment between the two, and assist with the data-driven decision-making process.

Demand planners might create reports which details things like metrics, forecasting accuracy, inventory levels, and suggested recommendations. Demand planners might use data visualization tools to help present their complex data and findings in a clear and concise manner, which is easily interpreted by other stakeholders. 

They also might need to create different reports for different stakeholders to meet unique needs.

Reporting might also be done in-person, and demand planners can often find themselves in meetings to discuss their findings and recommendations. 

Professional Development

Demand planners need to invest time in their own professional development and continuous learning, and it’s crucial that they stay on top of the latest industry best-practices, technology, and necessary skills. Because of this, a demand planner might attend training sessions, industry conferences, or participate in webinars.

A day in the life of a demand planner comes with tons of variables: you never know exactly what you’re going to get, it can vary by industry and company, and no two days are the same. But you can expect to see a mixture of things like forecasting, data analysis, inventory management, collaboration with stakeholders, and reporting. 

Demand planners are integral to warehouse and supply chain operations and are the key to ensuring the right amount of product is always in supply. 

Stock IQ: A Demand Planner’s Secret Weapon 

Warehouse managers and demand planners need tools to help support the way they work with data.  To create accurate forecasts, demand planners need to access warehouse data in a clear and accurate way. With StockIQ, our technologies give demand planners the critical information they need, so they can have a 360-degree view of your company’s supply chain. 

Interested in seeing how StockIQ can transform the way your team works with your warehouse data? Contact us today.