Resources
Insights
Explore data-driven analysis, real-world lessons and expert commentary. Whether you’re navigating transformation, rethinking strategy, or building capability across your business, you’ll find the ideas and tools to help you move from insight to action and from Method to Meaning™.
Thought Piece
S&OP and AI: technology helps, but humans decide
A huge amount of AI-generated data, graphs and insights, yet not a single decision gets made – does this sound like your Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process?
Willem Vesters
Partner
Thought Piece
Gartner Barcelona: Shiny New Bags, Familiar Questions
Willem Vester shares his reflections from Gartner Supply Chain Symposium 2026 in Barcelona, where AI and emerging technologies dominated the agenda, yet the same fundamental supply chain challenges persist.
Willem Vesters
Partner
News
Olympus Advances IBP Maturity Through Cross-Functional Transformation with Oliver Wight
Nicole Hill, Vice President Supply Chain at Olympus APAC, reflects on a transformation that reshaped the company’s IBP approach and delivered a step-change in forecast accuracy.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Diagnosing the Hidden Cost of Performance
A visual guide to value leakage, hidden cause and effect, and how enterprise visibility turns silent losses into captured value. Insights from Oliver Wight’s Gartner Supply Chain Symposium presentation.
Andy Walker
Partner and CEO
News
The Oliver Wight Conference 2026
The Oliver Wight Conference 2026 will take place on 15th September in Amsterdam, bringing together senior leaders and practitioners who are under increasing pressure to turn strategy into measurable business performance – not just reports, dashboards, or reworked plans.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
Why Embedding Change Is Harder than Designing It – and What to Do About It
You’ve built the vision and co-created the design. Now comes the part most organisations get wrong: making change stick when people’s instinct is to revert to what they know.
Ben Collins
Partner
Thought Piece
How Co-Creation Builds the Change Capability Your Organisation Actually Needs
Leadership commitment means nothing without the people who translate vision into practice. The Enable phase of Oliver Wight’s change approach is where change stops being a leadership ambition and starts becoming organisational reality.
Ben Collins
Partner
Thought Piece
Why Real Business Change Starts with Leaders Not Processes
If you’re not prepared to change first, don’t expect anyone else to follow. Oliver Wight’s change methodology places leadership at the centre for good reason: it’s where most change programmes succeed or fail.
Ben Collins
Partner
Thought Piece
Women of Influence 2026: Birgit Breitschuh Shares Her Leadership Journey
As COO at Oliver Wight EAME, Birgit’s story is a testament to the impact of leadership grounded in empathy, resilience, and accountability. Whether mentoring colleagues, guiding clients, or shaping organisational culture, she exemplifies how leaders can inspire meaningful change while empowering others to reach their potential.
Birgit Breitschuh
Partner and COO
Thought Piece
Why Sponsors Hold the Key to Change Programmes That Actually Stick
You’ve been asked to sponsor a change initiative. It’s a vote of confidence in your leadership. Understanding the true demands of sponsorship is the first step to meeting them.
Ben Collins
Partner
Uncategorised
Meet the Team – Emma Martin
Approachable, optimistic and calm – three words to describe our Senior Campaigns and Events Marketing Executive, Emma Martin. Learn more about her role at Oliver Wight in this blog.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Charting the course to net-zero
As regulatory pressures intensify and stakeholder expectations shift, sustainability has evolved from a peripheral concern into a fundamental driver of business value.
Bas Kersten
Partner
White Papers
Leadership paradox: How CEOs kill their own AI investments
Leaders fund artificial intelligence (AI) for truth, then reject the truth. You signed the cheque. Millions of pounds were invested in AI platforms. Your team promised better forecasts, optimised operations, and data-driven decisions. The AI delivers precisely what you paid for: insights that conflict with your plans. You override them.
Ruan Van Vuuren
Partner
White Papers
Is your leadership the reason business change keeps failing?
A visual guide to what leaders get wrong, why they become blockers, and how to build capability that delivers. Insights from Oliver Wight’s panel discussion on leadership and change.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
Unlocking End-to-end Value Chain Excellence Through Continuous Improvement
How a Holistic Approach Powers Sustainable Performance and Competitive Advantage
Bas Kersten
Partner
Thought Piece
Leaders: This is How You Turn Relentless Change into Competitive Advantage
Your people are exhausted. Your change programmes keep stalling. Here are tips to break the cycle, starting with how you chunk, integrate, and build capability that lasts.
Les Brookes
Partner
Thought Piece
What You’re Getting Wrong About Your Role as a Leader in Business Change
You signed off on the budget and announced the vision. Job done? Two-thirds of change programmes fail not due to strategy or technology, but because leaders misunderstand the true demands of their role. This likely includes you.
Kirsty Braines
Partner
Thought Piece
Why You, as a Leader, Fail the Change Tests Your People Are Watching
Leaders rarely see themselves as blockers. Yet your behaviour at critical moments—the budget review, the resourcing decision, the daily firefight —reveals a gap between intention and action that explains why most change programmes fail.
Monte Maritz
Partner
News
Celebrating New Leadership Appointments at Oliver Wight EAME
We’re delighted to share some exciting news about the future of our leadership team at Oliver Wight EAME.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
Why 2026 demands business leaders rethink everything they know about change
Forget eventual success: patience has become a liability. The companies thriving now are the ones delivering visible results in weeks, not years.
Andy Walker
Partner and CEO
News
Oliver Wight Celebrates Christmas Game with Donation to Local Children’s Charity
Our Christmas game has now officially come to an end, and we’re delighted to share the results.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
What Is Change Fatigue and How Can Leadership Tackle It?
Understand change fatigue and how to rebuild momentum with clear purpose, smart pacing, IBP alignment and practical capability.
Ben Collins
Partner
Thought Piece
Unlocking Real Value from IBP: The True Secret of Success
Despite widespread adoption of Integrated Business Planning (IBP) and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP), fewer than 15% of organisations realise real value, largely due to implementation shortcomings rather than terminology.
Bas Kersten
Partner
Thought Piece
How To Lead Through Change Without Burning Out Your Team
This article is a practical playbook. You will diagnose risk, identify root causes and reset the rhythm of work so your teams can deliver at pace without tipping into exhaustion. You will see where people, process and technology must move together – and where they must stop. You will also get tools you can lift straight into your next 90 days.
Ben Collins
Partner
Uncategorised
Meet The Team – Joanna Larsen-Newell
Meet Joanna, our new Head of Finance, who brings a wealth of experience from the consultancy world and a passion for numbers, learning, and a perfectly brewed cup of tea.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
Marketing campaign planning that actually drives growth
Creative agencies excel at compelling campaigns. But without business planning integration, even brilliant creative work fails to deliver sustainable growth.
Ben Collins
Partner
White Papers
Beyond the Process: Overcoming the Decision-making Deficit
Many organisations excel at building processes but fall short when it comes to decisive, aligned action. This white paper explores how to bridge the gap between process and performance by empowering confident, informed decision-making at every level.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
When your Excel ‘masterpiece’ meets reality – and loses
How individual expertise can blind us to better solutions, and why the tools you need might already be sitting right in front of you.
Mike Snape
Partner
Thought Piece
How to make the most of your Integrated Business Planning process during and after business reorganisation
Business leaders are racing to harness AI’s potential while navigating reorganisation, but without unified data access across functions, even sophisticated investments deliver disappointing returns.
Kirsty Braines
Partner
Thought Piece
Trust and cohesion: managing change fatigue
Organisations are undergoing more transformation than ever — yet most change initiatives fail due to fatigue, poor communication and lack of support. Ben Collins explains why managing the human impact of change is now a strategic necessity.
Ben Collins
Partner
Thought Piece
Protecting your margins: How to avoid the year-end cost-cutting trap
With rising costs squeezing businesses from all directions, many companies resort to last-minute expense freezes. This reactive approach damages long-term performance. Here’s how to tackle the real causes of margin leakage.
Mike Snape
Partner
Thought Piece
Innovation tunnel vision – why most projects should never launch
Most innovation becomes gap-filling rather than growth-driving. Funnel thinking beats tunnel vision when an innovation strategy integrates with business planning.
Ben Collins
Partner
Thought Piece
When supply chain pressure becomes supply chain progress: A manufacturing transformation story
How one company turned relentless business pressures into a competitive advantage, and what anybody working in or around supply chain can learn from its journey.
Andy Walker
Partner and CEO
Thought Piece
Why waste your time second guessing when one plan delivers more?
Traditional finance models focused on oversight are no longer enough – today’s businesses need finance to enable agility and drive performance.
Monte Maritz
Partner
Thought Piece
Leadership Coaching And Courses: What Business Leaders Need To Know
See how leadership coaching and courses enable successful transformation by equipping leaders to drive change, build alignment, and deliver results.
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Oliver Wight
Case Study
From Fragmented To First Place
Discover how we helped a leading confectionary group unlock immediate performance gains and rise to the top of its retail channels.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
Meet The Team – Ruan Van Vuuren
Meet the latest Partner to join Oliver Wight – Ruan Van Vuuren. Discover what drives Ruan’s passion for performance and why he believes transformation only matters if it changes everyday decisions.
Ruan Van Vuuren
Partner
Thought Piece
Why are we missing our financial forecast? Breaking the inaccuracy cycle
Forecast misses are more than just numbers – they’re symptoms of deeper dysfunction. This blog explores the destructive spiral finance teams fall into when accuracy fails, and how Integrated Business Planning offers a way out.
Birgit Breitschuh
Partner and COO
Thought Piece
A Complete Guide To Choosing A Supply Chain Consultant
A step-by-step guide to ensuring you choose the right supply chain consultant – especially in the current context of constant change.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
Product Management Consulting: What, How, Why and When?
What is product management consulting? What does it involve? How do they work, and when do you need them? Get the information you need.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
How your financials should build in IBP – ownership is everything
This blog explores how financial ownership transforms IBP, eliminating blind spots and driving sharper, accountable planning.
Monte Maritz
Partner
Thought Piece
Why your CFO should chair the Integrated Reconciliation Review
This article explores how financial leadership ensures alignment between operational plans and strategic goals, drives accountability, and enables informed decision-making at the executive level.
Birgit Breitschuh
Partner and COO
Thought Piece
Finance ivory tower: Breaking down barriers for business growth
When finance operates in isolation, it slows down decision-making and disconnects strategy from execution. Discover how breaking down the ‘ivory tower’ mindset unlocks business-wide collaboration, sharper planning, and real growth.
Birgit Breitschuh
Partner and COO
Thought Piece
Month-end reporting is part of IBP: Why seamless integration matters
Month-end reporting doesn’t belong on the sidelines of your IBP process – it should be at its core. Discover why integrating finance into your planning cycle is key to unlocking forward-looking decisions and operational clarity.
Monte Maritz
Partner
Thought Piece
What is Leadership Consultancy In 2025… And Beyond
Understand exactly what leadership consultancy is, what it includes, who it’s for and when, and its benefits. Leverage experts to drive growth!
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Method to Meaning™: Why Complex Transformation No Longer Delivers
A guide to Oliver Wight’s Method to Meaning™ approach – insights from a presentation at Gartner’s Supply Chain Symposium 2025.
Monte Maritz
Partner
White Papers
Connecting Strategy to Execution With Integrated Strategy Management
The president of a manufacturing company hated surprises, especially financial surprises. Jack had more than a decade of experience in leading companies. Yet, those companies rarely achieved their strategies as planned. It seemed he would always learn in the fourth quarter that the strategies were not driving the growth anticipated and promised to the board.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
FP&A is overtaking the supply chain as the pre-eminent function, but it’s good news for supply chain leaders
In many businesses FP&A is overtaking the supply chain to become the preeminent business function. It’s a remarkable turnaround, bringing with it a new breed of commercially minded financial professionals focused on helping the business grow.
Thought Piece
Geopolitical tensions reshape global supply chains
As increasing trade restrictions and regional economic blocs transform global commerce, businesses must fundamentally rethink their supply chains, explain Dick Heldoorn and Bas Kersten, Partners at Oliver Wight.
Dick Heldoorn
Partner
Thought Piece
In a seemingly unpredictable world, why you need unconventional thinkers in your team… And how to cultivate original thought
Businesses have had a lot of disruptions to contend with in recent years, whether pandemics, lockdowns, sudden cost rises, Brexit, inflation, wars, Green agenda, Cancel Culture, DEI … the list goes on and on! And yet uncertainty seems to be getting even
Thought Piece
Breaking down the finance ivory tower – why modern business demands integration
As corporate agility becomes paramount in 2025, siloed financial operations pose an existential threat. We outline why integrated planning must replace traditional finance models.
Les Brookes
Partner
White Papers
The IBP advantage: The key to managing campaigns, KPIs and decision-making
Now, in this final part, we will focus on why brand growth principles and marketing campaigns (whether they be consumer or customer-centric) need to be integrated and managed through the portfolio steps of Integrated Business Planning (IBP).
Ben Collins
Partner
White Papers
The IBP advantage: The role of innovation management
Welcome to part three of this white paper series. We are going to spend some time looking at the role of innovation and the benefits a clear innovation strategy and execution framework can deliver to unlock portfolio growth.
Using a Portfolio Review process as an annual event or as a knee-jerk reaction is relatively common practice, and with so many organizations being siloed and lacking integration, this approach is never really going to be all encompassing.
Ben Collins
Partner
White Papers
The IBP advantage: The scope of portfolio management
While many organisations perform a regular deep dive portfolio performance review, at some point, it’s important to ask why, and what does it actually achieve?
Using a Portfolio Review process as an annual event or as a knee-jerk reaction is relatively common practice, and with so many organizations being siloed and lacking integration, this approach is never really going to be all encompassing.
Ben Collins
Partner
White Papers
The IBP advantage: The Portfolio Review
In today’s dynamic business landscape, the role and integration of marketing and product teams has become a critical factor in achieving organisational success. As businesses navigate ever-evolving markets and consumer preferences, the ability to seamlessly align and integrate these two key functions and their plans can make the difference between stagnation and growth.
Ben Collins
Partner
Thought Piece
Santa’s Supply Chain Success Puts British Government Housebuilding Plans to Shame
Here’s why leaders must look beyond headline-grabbing promises to understand true operational capabilities.
Les Brookes
Partner
Thought Piece
Beware: AI is already in your business, perhaps by stealth, and it can destroy customer service and burn out your employees…
Paul Ducie takes a skeptical look at AI, cautioning employers on the pitfalls that can arise from rapid adoption.
Paul Ducie
Partner
White Papers
Deploying Strategy with Integrated Business Planning – Management Business Review
This paper provides an overview of the fifth step in the Integrated Business Planning (IBP) process – The Management Business Review (MBR) – and its significance in shaping the future direction of the business and what it takes to be effective.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
Breaking The Cycle
Monte Maritz shares practical steps miners can take to deliver continuous value through the boom and bust of the commodity cycle.
Monte Maritz
Partner
White Papers
Deploying Strategy with Integrated Business Planning – The Integrated Reconciliation Review
This paper considers the role of the fourth step in the IBP process, the Integrated Reconciliation Review (IRR). In the IRR, the unresolved issues from the previous three steps are filtered and, where they cannot be addressed, prepared for escalation.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Deploying Strategy with Integrated Business Planning – The Supply Review
The Supply Review is the third step in the monthly Integrated Business Planning (IBP) process. It is where supply chain articulates its response in a forward-looking, time-phased plan within the context of well-defined tactics and strategies.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
How to realise the true value of Integrated Business Planning
IBP can drive better performance and financial improvement, and help spot potential dangers and opportunities, but many companies are floundering.
Bas Kersten
Partner
White Papers
Deploying Strategy with Integrated Business Planning – The Demand Review
The Demand Review is the second step in the Integrated Business Planning process. It follows the Portfolio Review.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
Course Correction – Why Integrated Business Planning is a Trusted Corporate GPS
Tumultuous times make IBP invaluable for charting routes to strategic destinations. Leaders must harness volatility as an opportunity, not an excuse, and progress intentionally despite uncertainty.
Ross Boyle
Partner
White Papers
Deploying Strategy with Integrated Business Planning – Connecting Strategy to Execution
This white paper demonstrates the principles of connecting strategy to plans and execution in each business function using IBP as the means of deployment.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
How to stop my boss doing my job instead of their own!
Dawn Howarth shares her advice on a commonly asked question: How do I deal with an interfering boss?
Dawn Howarth
Partner
Thought Piece
Meet The Team – Willem Vesters
We are delighted to welcome Willem Vesters to the Oliver Wight EAME team as our newest Partner. Learn more about Willem in this blog!
Willem Vesters
Partner
Thought Piece
Meet the Team – Ross Boyle
Ross Boyle speaks to us about his ‘day-to-day’ as an Oliver Wight Partner, his interests outside of work, and his pet Labrador, Ed!
Ross Boyle
Partner
Thought Piece
Key learnings from the 8th Annual S&OP to Integrated Business Planning Summit
Oliver Wight Partners Bas Kersten and Dick Heldoorn share some key learnings from the 8th Annual S&OP to Integrated Business Planning Summit.
Bas Kersten
Partner
Thought Piece
3 ways Integrated Business Planning helps organisations to manage uncertainty
By Oliver Wight Partner, Andy Walker and Oracle EMEA Strategy Director, Jaime Marijuán Castro.
Andy Walker
Partner and CEO
Thought Piece
Hold fire before rushing to implement your summer holiday “good ideas”
School’s back, holidays are over, and executives and business owners will be coming back refreshed and armed with good ideas for new initiatives they have thought up while taking a well-earned August break.
Ben Collins
Partner
Thought Piece
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Building a Sustainable Supply Chain
Until a few years ago, if you’d asked any senior leader or executive the most important contributing factor to the ‘sustainability’ of their business they would most likely have answered that it was rate of growth and financial profitability. Yet, more recently, the importance has unarguably shifted towards a more balanced view, which includes environmental impact.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
The delegation dilemma
Birgit Breitschuh explores the rut many CEOs often find themselves in through short-term fire-fighting.
Birgit Breitschuh
Partner and COO
Thought Piece
My first foray into Gartner’s Supply Chain Symposium….
Oliver Wight Partner Ben Collins shares his experience and learnings from attending the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium earlier this month.
Ben Collins
Partner
White Papers
Supply Review – Delivering Value
Achieving IBP excellence through effective supply chain integration
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
Meet The Team – Bas Kersten
Oliver Wight Partner Bas Kersten has over 25 years of experience in Supply Chain and Operations, working for global companies both in consumer products and in heavy industry. Learn more about Bas in this blog.
Bas Kersten
Partner
Thought Piece
Future trends: biopharma to outpace small molecule drug development
Gary Connors looks at some of the most important factors that will affect the pharmaceutical industry going forward.
Gary Connors
Partner
Thought Piece
Oliver Wight – Opportunites for 2023
In 2023, we believe a two-tier economy will emerge with sectors such as retail and hospitality struggling as the UK enters recession.
Kirsty Braines
Partner
Thought Piece
Meet The Team – Ben Collins
With a rewarding career working with some of the biggest businesses and brands in the world across a number of commercial roles, get to know our new Partner, Ben Collins.
Ben Collins
Partner
Uncategorised
Meet The Team – Jana Michlíková
Jana joined the Oliver Wight EAME team as Sales and Marketing Assistant in November 2022. Find out more about Jana in our Meet the Team blog.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
Accountants predict the main challenges they’ll face and the tools they’ll need to survive in 2023
The deposit return scheme (DRS) is likely to have a massive impact on retail businesses says Oliver Wight Partner Andy Walker.
Andy Walker
Partner and CEO
White Papers
Do people trust your demand plan? How reducing bias improves credibility and financial performance
In a demand management process, a great deal of effort is spent each month assembling, gaining consensus to, and publishing a demand plan. Having a consensus plan that is agreed upon by the commercial side of the business is the foundation for an effective integrated business model. All too often, however, companies put in the effort to develop a consensus demand plan but don’t realise the benefits.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
Catherine Schmitt-Weber, Partner at Oliver Wight EAME tells us all about delivering humanitarian aid in a crisis
What role do procurement and supply teams play in acquiring and delivering humanitarian aid, for personal, societal, and economic support?
Catherine Schmitt-Weber
Partner
Thought Piece
Meet the Team – Dick Heldoorn
Get to know Oliver Wight Partner, Dick Heldoorn.
Dick Heldoorn
Partner
Thought Piece
Early recognition of opportunities around the act on corporate due diligence in supply chains through planning
The short-sightedness of strategic purchasing has led to flying blind for years – after all, the supplier market often remains a black box.
Birgit Breitschuh
Partner and COO
White Papers
Getting the Most From Demand Management
A demand plan is more than a forecast. It integrates with other business processes and aligns with the supply and financial plans. A sustainable demand management plan is one where a consensus is reached and accountabilities for executing the plan are clearly defined.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Avoid Being a ‘One Dimensional’ Business
How concepts have matured and improved in our expert hands and why you must apply multiple concepts to ensure success.
Lloyd Snowden
Partner
White Papers
Planning through stagflation. The role of agility and accountability in driving continued growth.
Gaps in processes and poor utilisation of resources can lead to inertia and
decline. Organisations need to align, organise and adjust their operating models
if they are to plan and execute effectively in the current volatile environment.
Kirsty Braines
Partner
White Papers
Product and Service Portfolio Rationalisation
An issue that is prevalent across all industry sectors is that of a growing portfolio of products and services, that gets expanded over time as new products and variations of existing products get introduced, to enable the achievement of the strategic growth goals of the company. These new products and services are vital to enable companies to open up new markets and attract new customers, by differentiating themselves from their competitors.
Lloyd Snowden
Partner
Thought Piece
How to transform your IBP plans into reality using Integrated Tactical Planning
Dawn Howarth explores the power of Integrated Tactical Planning.
Dawn Howarth
Partner
Thought Piece
Oliver Wight Announces the Release of a Ground-Breaking Book: Integrated Tactical Planning
Integrated Tactical Planning (ITP) is the subject of the latest ground-breaking book released by Oliver Wight International.
Dawn Howarth
Partner
Uncategorised
Meet the Team – Alice Barrett
We chat with Alice about the world of digital and her idea of a utopian workplace.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
What return on investment can you expect from your Integrated Business Planning process?
Mike Snape shares three of the most common benefits clients experience as a consequence of deploying IBP.
Mike Snape
Partner
Thought Piece
Why is my IBP process not working and what can I do about it?
By Oliver Wight Partner, Birgit Breitschuh
Birgit Breitschuh
Partner and COO
White Papers
One Number Planning; The consequences and cure for misaligned plans
Forecasts are like opinions in many companies. Everybody seems to have one, and that’s a problem. In this white paper, we highlight how executive behaviours can make – or break – a company’s ability to plan and execute well.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Blind Spot – How Demand Management and Integrated Business Planning Are Used to Optimise Trade Spend Investment
Any company struggling to manage trade spend will find this white paper useful. It provides a case example of a company that optimised trade spend investment using Demand Management and Integrated Business Planning processes. Business growth increased significantly while trade spend investment overall was reduced. Download the white paper to read more…
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Demand Control – An often missing link in a demand management process
Demand Control: An Often Missing Link in the Demand Management Process. This white paper defines demand control and the role of the Demand Controller, outlines the benefits of a good demand control process, and provides a compelling argument for why a demand control process should be in place.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Demand Management – A sales and marketing process
In the consumer-driven business climate of today, the most successful organisations are those that can meet customer demand, as efficiently and profitably as possible. Even if you are one or more steps removed from the consumer, it is vital their needs and wants run through the bloodline of your entire supply chain.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Forecast Measurement and Evaluation
In this white paper, we highlight the importance of forecasting and why accuracy should be measured. You will find information on how to measure forecasts, what to expect, how to evaluate results, and how to handle inaccuracies.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Forecasting & Communicating Project Demand to the Supply Organisation
This paper is designed to help demand managers and planners recognise different demand streams and how to treat them, identify, categorise, and review project demand, and how to forecast and communicate demand and develop “what if?” scenarios and contingency plans.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Digital Disruption – Is Your Organisation Ready?
Big tech has now become too big to ignore; it’s not an ‘if we should integrate IoT, Industry 4.0, AI and big data’, but a ‘when?’ and crucially, ‘how?’.
Birgit Breitschuh
Partner and COO
White Papers
The role of Supply Chain in the 21st century
Restructuring the end-to-end supply chain for success in modern markets
Birgit Breitschuh
Partner and COO
White Papers
Unlocking The Potential – Harnessing the power of your people
The individual may be the smallest component in a change process, but they are also the most important. As any manager will know, changing the behaviour of individuals is not always an easy task, and it is often this, which presents the greatest barrier to change. This change, however, is fundamental. Put simply: if an individual won’t change, the organisation can’t.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Achieving Oliver Wight Class A Business Excellence Certification
Remember the good old days when managing a business was easy? Neither do we. Yet today, more and more business leaders complain about increasingly demanding customers who want lower prices, faster responses, and more product and service options.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Marketing’s Role in the Integrated Business Planning Process
The white paper underscores why the marketing group is a critical stakeholder within Integrated Business Planning and how marketing impacts product management and business development.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Scenario Planning: A necessary skill to drive better decision making in IBP
Scenario Planning is crucial to response and recovery to changes in our environment. This has always been true and is talked about everywhere in business planning today. Leading companies are learning how to consistently implement scenario planning to sense and respond to triggers in a way that protects and promotes the business.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
Meet the Team – Lucy Jacobs
We talk to Lucy Jacobs about joining the Oliver Wight EAME team.
Lucy Jacobs
Partner
White Papers
What are you doing 13 weeks from now?
The 13-week Master Scheduling Review and its transition to Integrated Tactical Planning supporting the short-term IBP plan.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Want to Execute Your Strategy and Improve Financial Performance?
This white paper tells the story of one company that links Demand Management to strategy via its Integrated Business Planning process – and one company that does not. The white paper contrasts the financial performance of the two companies.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Effective Execution of S&OP/IBP Plans through Integrated Tactical Planning
The importance of ensuring a process such as Integrated Tactical Planning exists is particularly topical given the unnerving climate of uncertainty and the challenges facing many organisations right now.
Dawn Howarth
Partner
Thought Piece
Sustainability and the supply chain
Flavio Pietrocola explains why businesses need to look at their environmental impact to stay competitive.
Flavio Pietrocola
Partner
Thought Piece
Six Signs Your Business Needs Integrated Business Planning
Questioning whether your business needs an Integrated Business Planning process? Here are six signs it does.
Kirsty Braines
Partner
White Papers
Effective Demand Planning
Arguably, all successful business planning and supply chain optimisation begins with effective demand planning. It is a fascinating subject and while there are always significant implications to consider in terms of geography, organisation, markets, and customers, there are ten keys to demand planning which apply consistently. In this white paper we explore five of those principles.
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Oliver Wight
Uncategorised
Meet the Team – Kate Roby
Kate shares the best piece of advice she’s ever been given and reveals her favorite part of working at Oliver Wight.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Analyse. Redefine. Transform. The art of creating a proactive, aligned strategy fit for future growth.
Learning leadership lessons, building resiliency and inspiring positive change
Many business strategies will have been rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The short and longer-term effects of this will be devastating for those that do not pivot and evolve strategies to capitalise on new opportunities. There is no going back.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
How to Convince Your Colleagues that Integrated Business Planning is Best for Your Business
So, you’re sold on the idea of Integrated Business Planning and want to make a case for change, but you’re sensing hesitation from your colleagues in Product, Sales, Marketing and Finance functions.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Healing Healthcare – Future-proofing your master data
At Oliver Wight we have a recurring scenario that plays out with many of our healthcare clients. It starts with their unshakeable belief that their data is accurate; ‘it must be, right? We are in a highly regulated industry after all’. The next act is an academic exercise to measure the data, quickly followed by utter horror when the level of inaccuracy is revealed. After a period of inactivity comes denial; the explanations as to why ‘the data can never be as accurate as other industries.’ Then acceptance sets in and action to improve begins.
Gary Connors
Partner
Thought Piece
Meet the Team – Paul Ducie
Paul’s idea of a utopian workplace? Looking out to sea with his MacBook and a decent cup of tea! Sounds good to us. Read more here.
Paul Ducie
Partner
White Papers
Demand Segmentation
Segmentation is not just about responding to the varying needs of consumers today. It’s about anticipating long-term trends, thinking ahead of the game, and predicting what customers want, even before they do, so there is time to respond and align the firm’s business model – and supply chain – accordingly.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Demand Sensing and Execution – Staying Ahead of the Consumer Revolution
Today, the consumer market is a battleground, with brands fighting on all fronts to vanquish competitors. Winning is not easy; the modern world is consistently inconsistent, characterised by consumer transience, faster-moving trends, and increasingly volatile markets.
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Oliver Wight
Thought Piece
Meet the Team – Lloyd Snowden
A qualified Mechanical Engineer, before joining Oliver Wight Lloyd built trains with British Rail Engineering Limited and became Managing Director for SAB WABCO. Read more about Lloyd’s story here.
Lloyd Snowden
Partner
White Papers
Inventory as a Consequence – Improving Supply Planning
Managing the eternal struggle between too much inventory and not enough lies at the heart of effective supply chain management, but it’s an equation organisations continually fail to get right.
Dawn Howarth
Partner
Thought Piece
Meet the Team – Neil Hill
Neil was an Oliver Wight client since 1997 before becoming an Oliver Wight Partner in 2017. In this blog, he reveals his idea of a utopian workplace and his biggest achievement to date.
Neil Hill
Partner
White Papers
Making the Case: The ROI of Demand Management
This paper shows how to evaluate and communicate the value of improving the credibility of the demand plan. Several templates are included to help in quantifying and documenting the return on investment.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Integrated Product Portfolio and Project Management: “The Art of New Product Demand Planning”
To ensure companies achieve the greatest value from their IBP process, the Portfolio Review must be effectively integrated with the Demand Review. This, in turn, requires a disciplined Product Portfolio and Project Management planning process that includes the creation of a New Product Master Plan. In this white paper, we outline key concepts behind Product Portfolio and Project Management as part of an IBP process.
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Oliver Wight
Uncategorised
Meet the Team – Kuldip Jemahl
Honest. Logical. Direct. Three words to describe our Commercial Manager, Kuldip Jemahl. Learn more in this blog.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Managing People and Behaviours
If businesses want to implement sustainable performance improvement, it is essential they first recognise that people are the key drivers in any change programme, and that success depends on the organisation’s ability to cultivate the right environment for change.
Lloyd Snowden
Partner
Thought Piece
Meet the Team – Catherine Schmitt-Weber
“Determined. Energetic. Compassionate.” Three words to describe Catherine. Find out more about her in this blog.
Catherine Schmitt-Weber
Partner
White Papers
Supply Chain Design & Optimisation – Building Supply Chain Relationships
Keeping your own business under control and simply relying on your customers and suppliers to do the same in today’s business environment, is no longer sufficient.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Relationships: The key to Effective Demand Planning in a Business-To-Business Environment
Poor forecasts are often symptoms of poor customer relationships. This paper deals with the role of sales account managers in developing collaborative relationships with key customers. Sales needs to represent the company to the customer and the customer to the company.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Demand Management – Lessons Learned
This white paper is based on the lessons learned by Oliver Wight Partners in helping companies, large and small, implement demand management processes over the past 20 years.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Managing the Private Label Supply Chain
This white paper uncovers the secrets to understanding, embarking on and managing the private label supply chain.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Demand Planning – Where Does it Fit in the Organisation
Ron Ireland discusses the pros and cons of demand planning residing in the supply side of the business and its impact on accuracy. Read why the “Pull” method has become the method of choice over “Push”.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Demand Review – Tell the Story
In this white paper, we present a case study about a company attempting to implement IBP based on a 24-month planning horizon, while really only planning for the next quarter. We argue that the demand planners simply allowed the statistical forecast to compute the item-level projections but failed to take into account that brand and product plans might change over time.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Bedarfssegmentierung Der Konkurrenz einen Schritt voraus
Segmentierung meint nicht nur die Reaktion auf unterschiedliche Bedürfnisse der Verbraucher von heute. Es geht darum, langfristige Trends zu erkennen, zu wissen, was Kunden wollen, noch bevor sie es selbst wissen. Es geht darum, rechtzeitig zu agieren und das Geschäftsmodell des Unternehmens – und die Supply Chain – entsprechend auszurichten.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Uncertain Outlook: Managing The Sales Management Process with Vulnerabilities and Opportunities
In this environment, predicting what the business will look like in two or three years’ time is more difficult but more important than ever. A robust Integrated Business Planning (IBP) process is non-negotiable and this stands or falls by the accuracy of the demand plan.
Andy Walker
Partner and CEO
White Papers
Ausblick ins Ungewisse
Lässt sich in diesem Umfeld verlässlich vorhersagen, wie das Geschäft in zwei oder drei Jahren aussieht? Diese Prognose ist schwieriger, aber auch wichtiger denn je. Ein robuster Integrierter Unternehmensplanungsprozess (Integrated Business Planning Process IBP) ist dafür unabdingbar; seine Realisierung steht und fällt mit der Genauigkeit des Bedarfsplans.
Andy Walker
Partner and CEO
White Papers
Strategic Planning Bringing the Future Forward
Oliver Wight’s Lloyd Snowden explains why a robust strategic planning process is essential to ensure that decisions made today will be aligned with the future needs of the business – growth, improvement, and new technologies – and that the organisation and its people will be ready and able to cope with whatever challenges lie ahead.
Lloyd Snowden
Partner
White Papers
Role of Technology in Demand Management
This is an excerpt from the book, Demand Management Best Practices: Process, Principles and Collaboration. We write about best practice solutions that will improve overall business performance for supply chain partners and all functions within a company impacted by the demand management process.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
The Power of Insight – Statistical Forecasting as Part of Integrated Demand Management
Success in today’s consumer-driven business climate depends on meeting customer demand as efficiently and profitably as possible. Accurate demand planning is vital; not only does it provide the very foundation on which future plans can be made, it allows the business to anticipate changes in demand in plenty of time and respond accordingly.
Andy Walker
Partner and CEO
White Papers
Integrating Product Management into the Business Planning Process
One of the lessons to come out of the global recession is that effective management and control of the product portfolio are critical to sustained success. Regular innovation is vital for profitable growth. In this white paper we share how integrating product management into your business planning process ensures you are able to move quickly to exploit new opportunities and close business gaps.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Laying the Foundation – Six Steps to 95% Inventory Record Accuracy
To start the inventory improvement process, this white paper will describe a six-step programme that will enable the reader to achieve 95% accuracy or better, often with less cost.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Gearing up for growth – Speed, agility and cost-efficiency; the future of the automotive supply chain
New UK car sales have accelerated to a ten-year high. Fuelled by PPI compensation windfalls, attractive finance deals, and shorter buying cycles (due to perceived savings from the efficiency of new cars), the automotive market, at last, appears to be on the road to recovery following six years of decline.
Les Brookes
Partner
White Papers
Supply Chain Management – A Year in the Life
This collection of supply chain articles, written by Oliver Wight Partner, Kirsty Braines, was first published as an ‘Expert View’ series in the National Computing Centre (NCC)’s Conspectus magazine and on its Evaluation Centre website between January and December 2011. Kirsty is the NCC’s regular expert supply chain contributor.
Kirsty Braines
Partner
White Papers
Driving Excellence in Product Management
This paper will describe the five elements of the product management process required to support an overall Integrated Business Model.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Kanban and Enterprise Resource Planning – The True Understanding of Lean
This white paper debunks the myths that Kanban and Enterprise Resource Planning are mutually exclusive.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
The Lean Enterprise
Les Brookes looks at Lean from a strategic level and shows how to approach implementation across the whole of the business.
Les Brookes
Partner
White Papers
Framing the Problem Statement – Investments in the Extended Supply Chain Should Not Be Made Blindly
In this white paper we emphasise the importance of determining the root causes of issues in order to develop appropriate solutions. Build trust, develop cross-operational teamwork, and enhance communication to restore customer confidence.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Transitioning from Sales and Operations Planning to Integrated Business Planning
Read this white paper to discover where your company is on the maturity of S&OP and the real benefits of transitioning from S&OP to Integrated Business Planning.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Managing Change
Change is difficult and painful for individuals and companies alike. It is also a fundamental part of staying in business.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Scenario Planning Trigger Points – Creating an Integrated Response to Scenarios
In this white paper, we provide insights on how to best utilise Integrated Scenario Planning as a decision-making tool by understanding Trigger Points, Response Plans, and related Roles & Responsibilities.
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Oliver Wight
White Papers
Scenario Planning Trigger Points – Creating an Integrated Response to Scenarios
Scenario Planning is crucial to the response and recovery to changes in our environment. This has always been true and is talked about everywhere in business planning today.
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Oliver Wight
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