Supply Chain Planning
A supply chain plan is only as good as the numbers behind it
Demand, supply and finance need to work from the same plan, or every meeting becomes a debate about whose spreadsheet is right.
We build Pigment planning models that connect your demand plan, your supply constraints and your financial targets, so the trade-offs are visible before the decision is made, not after.
Sales & Operations Planning
S&OP only works when the monthly cycle runs on one set of numbers. We build the model around your process: demand review, supply review, financial reconciliation and the executive decision, each with its own view, owner and sign-off, all reading from the same plan.
Because price and cost sit on the volume plan, every supply or demand decision shows its effect on revenue, margin and cash. Scenarios run side by side as versions, so the leadership meeting compares options rather than arguing about inputs.
One plan, every step. Demand, supply and finance views of the same numbers, with sign-off at each stage.
Volume to value. Units turn into revenue and margin, with a bridge to budget.
Scenarios side by side. Demand upside, capacity loss or a cost shock, compared without copying the model.
The monthly cycle, and the plan’s gap to budget · illustrative model, synthetic data
Demand & Inventory Planning
A statistical baseline is generated from history, then the commercial team adds what the model cannot see: promotions, launches, customer news. Each adjustment is recorded with who made it and why, and the process tracks whether the overlay actually beats the baseline.
The agreed demand plan flows straight into an inventory projection by location and period, so planners see projected stock, days of cover and the periods where policy is breached while there is still time to act.
Baseline plus consensus. Statistical forecast with governed overlays and an audit trail.
Forecast value added. Measure whether each step improves accuracy, tracked with bias, not accuracy alone.
Inventory projection. Opening stock, supply and demand roll forward by period to days of cover.
Baseline, consensus and the inventory it drives · illustrative model, synthetic data
Trade Promotion Management
Promotions are planned by customer, product and event, with the baseline, the uplift and the incremental volume held side by side. Trade spend sits against budget in the same model, so a promotion is judged on what it adds, not on what it sold.
The plan flows into the demand forecast, so supply prepares for the uplift you expect, and into gross-to-net, so the revenue and margin effect is visible before the promotion is committed.
When the trade-spend budget or plant capacity is tight, a decision optimiser can shortlist the promotions worth running, by customer, window and depth, and show the trade-off against the alternatives. The planner chooses; nothing is committed automatically.
Promotion planning. Calendar by customer and event, with baseline, uplift and incremental volume.
Trade spend against budget. Planned and committed spend tracked as events are added.
Joined to demand and revenue. The same promotion drives the forecast, the supply plan and gross-to-net.
Promotion shortlist. Candidate events ranked within budget and capacity, with the trade-off shown.
Promotion uplift, and the spend that buys it · illustrative model, synthetic data
Product Profitability Analysis
Gross margin by product hides the cost of serving the customer. We build profitability models that carry revenue through to the cost of delivering it: production, warehousing, freight, service and handling, allocated on drivers you can see and challenge.
The result is margin by product, customer and channel after cost-to-serve, with the movement in margin split into price, volume, mix and cost, so pricing, range and service-level decisions are made on the profit they really earn.
Cost-to-serve. Logistics, warehousing, service and handling allocated on visible drivers.
Price, volume and mix. The movement in margin explained by its causes, period on period or against budget.
Ranked by contribution. Products and customers after cost-to-serve, not just before.
What moved margin, and who earns it after cost-to-serve · illustrative model, synthetic data
Production Planning & Scheduling
A production plan fails where the demand plan meets the shop floor: the material is not there, a line is overloaded, and overtime is the only answer. We build production planning models that load work orders onto lines and bays, check material availability, and show the headcount and overtime each schedule needs.
Exceptions are flagged before the schedule is released, not discovered on the day. Capacity, material and labour are planned together, so the plan you commit to is one the plant can actually run.
A decision optimiser can then propose the weekly run order and quantities for each line, for example to cut changeover time within the capacity available. The planner sees the proposal beside the current plan, compares cost, service and utilisation, and accepts it, so the audit trail stays in the model.
Capacity against load. Orders loaded onto lines, bays and shifts, with utilisation and bottlenecks in view.
Material availability. Each work order checked against stock and inbound supply.
Labour and overtime. Headcount and overtime needed by schedule, with the cost of each option.
Sequencing proposals. Run order by line and week that reduces changeovers, compared with the current plan and accepted by the planner.
Orders loaded onto lines, with material and labour exceptions · illustrative model, synthetic data
Why Supply Chain Teams Trust Vuealta Consulting
Supply chain planning sits between commercial ambition, operational reality and financial targets, and the model has to serve all three. Our consultants combine planning-process knowledge with hands-on Pigment delivery, so the design reflects how your S&OP cycle and demand process actually run.
We have delivered S&OP, demand and supply planning programmes for more than 15 organisations across consumer goods, food and beverage, manufacturing, life sciences and natural resources.
Supply chain planning by industry
Every industry plans differently. See how these use cases apply to yours.
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