Supply chains evolve. Has your planning?

Over the past few decades, both dramatic shifts and subtle evolutions have reshaped the modern supply chain. It’s now more connected, volatile, and data-rich than ever before. Despite these changes, many organizations have been slow to adapt to the way they approach supply chain planning. Platforms, strategies, and mindsets are all stuck in the past, and supply chain planning software providers haven’t evolved their decision-support platforms to consider cross-functional collaboration with finance, sales, and HR. 

Many teams still rely on legacy systems that were never designed for the speed, complexity, or cross-functional demands of today’s business environment. If Excel is still your company’s go-to planning tool, congratulations — you might be eligible for a free AOL trial CD or Blockbuster membership renewal. You're not planning. You're time-traveling.

I had a chance to talk with a leading voice in our industry about why legacy planning tools are falling short — and what modern supply chains actually need. Lora Cecere is founder and CEO of Supply Chain Insights and a globally recognized supply chain thought leader with decades of experience researching the intersection of technology, data, and business processes. Her work has shaped how organizations think about planning maturity, cross-functional collaboration, and supply chain innovation.

Lora and I go way back — and in this conversation, we went all the way back to the ’90s to unpack why so many planning processes are still stuck there, and what it takes to move forward. We brought together two complementary perspectives: her deep industry research and my hands-on experience helping teams evolve their planning systems. The result was a well-balanced discussion that bridged strategy and execution. Below are some main highlights, and you can listen to the entire conversation in the on-demand webinar, “Stop planning like it’s 1999: A new blueprint.”

What’s broken: The disconnect between tools, data, and decision-making

While planning technologies have advanced in theory, many organizations are still relying on outdated systems and disconnected processes in practice. Lora and I began the conversation by highlighting a growing tension: the amount of data available to supply chain teams has increased exponentially, but the ability to act on that data hasn’t kept up.

Instead of enabling smarter decisions, legacy systems often make it harder to access, interpret, and act on information. Planners are left to piece together insights from spreadsheets, static reports, or complex workflows. This all adds up to turn what might be a strategic meeting into a struggle for collaboration, communication, and clarity. And by the time a decision is made, the data being analyzed might be old and outdated.

The consequences of this misalignment go beyond simple system inefficiency. Using outdated practices and platforms has a significant impact on job satisfaction, turnover, frustration, and a general declining morale among users and planners. 

“One of the interesting studies I did was on job satisfaction in supply chain,” Lora noted. “And I found that the planner has the lowest level of job satisfaction, which often leads to people jumping from one company to another or from one job to another — and skill level in planning is paramount to the use of the tools.”

Planning is a high-stakes, high-skill job, but many teams are being asked to work with tools that weren’t designed for today’s speed or complexity. The real gap is not just between data and systems, but between people and the decisions they’re expected to make.

If any of these sound familiar, you’re not alone:

• Your supply chain plans extend into Excel

• Sales, supply chain, and manufacturing each use disconnected planning tools

• Demand and supply plans are only updated monthly

• Disruptions take weeks to cascade through your plan

• Scenario modeling is a special project — not a standard practice

• You lack true end-to-end visibility for critical decisions

What good looks like (and what to watch out for)

So, what should modern planning look like? As Lora and I discussed, a good plan should be:

• Used by many, not just a few siloed experts

• Current, based on the latest available data

• Actionable, with outputs that lead directly to decisions

• Feasible, accounting for real constraints

• Adaptable, designed for change rather than rigidity

A good plan needs to work for the people using it. Planners need tools that are intuitive, responsive, and work at the speed of business. When the experience is simple and accessible, adoption follows. Users can trust the data, interpret it quickly, and make decisions with confidence. 

Simplicity is powerful — but achieving it in planning requires transforming how people, systems, and processes work together. And that transformation depends on a strong foundation: an architecture that can scale, perform under pressure, and support a variety of roles. Whether it's an executive checking updates on a phone or an analyst exploring detailed scenarios on a laptop, the system should support how people actually work. When it does, planning becomes a daily driver of clarity and action.

Common mistakes when starting the journey

Even with the right understanding of what “good” supply chain planning looks like, it is only half the story. Many organizations begin their transformation efforts with the right goals in mind but fall into familiar traps along the way.

Here are the five most common (and costly) mistakes organizations make when beginning their planning transformation:

1. Misaligned goals: Without a shared definition of success, teams chase different goals — leading to confusion, misalignment, and planning that goes nowhere fast.

2. Chaotic collaboration: Skipping role-based design means teams don’t know who needs what, when, or why — making data sharing and decision-making messy at best.

3. KPI overload: Too many conflicting metrics create noise, not clarity. A balanced scorecard ensures everyone is aligned and working toward the same outcomes.

4. Missing strategy: Designing processes without strategy is like building a road without a destination. Start with the “why” before mapping the “how.”

5. New tech, old habits: Modern tools are built for modern workflows. Just automating old manual tasks won’t fix inefficiencies — or keep top talent around.

These missteps can leave organizations stuck in the same patterns they were trying to avoid. From my perspective, a good plan is something planners can engage with directly. It is transparent, explainable, and flexible. When teams understand how a plan works and feel empowered to improve it, planning becomes a driver of real business value.

Rethink your planning. Rethink your platform.

Whether you're considering a system upgrade or rethinking your entire approach to planning, the message is clear: it’s time for a reset.

Supply chain planners today are managing more complexity with fewer resources, and expectations continue to rise. The next generation of professionals expects tools that are fast, intelligent, intuitive, and collaborative. While AI may seem like an easy solution, it requires a strong data foundation. Only once you have the basics right will layering in AI and advanced analytics allow you to really see things shine. 

Anaplan is making over $500M in product investment including in AI. To learn more and stay up to date on our perspectives on AI, make sure to read our recent blog and explore the Anaplan newsroom. 

For those still working within legacy systems, the path forward is becoming increasingly clear. We’ve outlined what effective planning looks like, what to avoid, and what your teams need to make better and faster decisions. If you’re ready to take the next step, we’d love to show you how Anaplan can bring your supply chain planning into the present — while preparing it for the challenges of tomorrow.