Reducing Manual Workload in SAP IBP Time-Series Supply Planning: A Practical Approach to Automation

Authors

• Naidu Paila Business Systems Lead Analyst

Abstract

Working with SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) for supply planning over the past 10 years, I noticed something that frustrated me and my colleagues: we spent too much time doing repetitive manual work by planners. Even though SAP IBP is supposed to be an advanced planning tool, I found planners constantly adjusting production quantities, fixing capacity overloads, and running the planning process multiple times just to get acceptable results. This paper sharesmy analysis about why this happens and how we can fix it. Through my experience implementing automation in a real manufacturing environment, I discovered that most manual planner activities can be eliminated by building smarter logic into the system itself. The results were significant; we cut planning time by almost half and improved the quality of our supply plans. Listed all processes executed and lessons learned during the 5-planning cycle analysis.

Keywords: SAP IBP, Supply Planning, Manual Workload, Automation, Resource Utilization, Planning Efficiency, Capacity planning, Mid-term and Long-term planning, Planned time fence, Capacity level loading