The Demand Planner and the Road to Success

Browsing through recent Demand Planner job postings for 2009, it is clear that one must embrace all aspects of the Supply Chain and Operations field to find success.

Today hiring managers are looking for people who:

1) understand the process and how the forecast drives the supply chain
2) are proficient in the various forecasting models
3) are great communicators
4) have excellent analytical skills
5) have a business background
6) posses working knowledge of every forecasting ERP, MRP tool available
7) are able to forecast with POS and syndicated data
8) can forecast for new products

In addition practitioners must be able to juggle all this while keeping abreast of best practices in the field.

The skill set of a demand planner is certainly well diverse and the encouraging news is that improving upon all of these qualities can be quite rewarding as you climb the corporate ladder. Across the board, understanding forecasts is only the beginning of your journey to a successful career. In more experienced positions, you will find that traits such as leadership and salesmanship are crucial in order to lead Sales and Operations Planning Teams as well as your own team. How does the planner gain this skill set and when does the mentoring begin? Demand planning, as it does in many careers, requires on the job training as well as continuing education.

So how can you juggle all this and still stay true to the heart of the role? Perhaps just keeping in mind of these few things that were passed onto me recently from DP Recruiters and others in the field:

Spot on: Companies, especially now during these turbulent economic times, should recognize the importance of a good forecast, as it drives efficiencies and bottom line values.

Classic Rewind: The process never goes out of style.

Building a Foundation: The value of professionals with procurement and supply chain experience has indeed grown and it is believed these skills are now currently in the "top 10" in Europe which companies look for when hiring new staff.

KPI’s: Analyzing and reporting the right KPI’s to upper management can influence businesses to make intelligent decisions

You cannot afford NOT to do this: What is the use of building a forecast and analyzing the data when you are not measuring forecast accuracy. Continuous improvement goals should always be a part of the demand planning role.

Learn from a Mentor: Be a sponge and learn from your colleagues. Designate someone as a mentor and commit to being a mentor yourself at some point in your career…pay it forward!

KISS: Sometimes you only require an aspirin to alleviate the pain, not necessarily prescription pain killers. Same applies to forecasting. Start with the basics first when choosing a forecasting model and measure the accuracy. You may achieve better results this way, rather than complicating things.