Order of operations

4+3×4=16. If you think it equals 28, please stop reading now and review order of operations in about 8th grade math. (if you think it equals 11, see an optometrist)

This week we continued our review of new planning systems, and internally had a conversation about what order of operations should look like in planning. 

If you change the forward forecast of sales what should be impacted? If sales go up,  inventory should follow inversely.  OR… Inventory should be stagnant,  and receipts increase equally to offset. 
What about MD?  Md% move,  or does % lock and md$ plan move?  And.. If MD $ changes than OH forward has to move.  
Endless loop?  How should this be done? 

The answer is yes to all.. Or no.   Depends on the item,  the goals,  the seasonality (in or pre-)
I want the system to match whats in my head. 

In Gen Merch (what we call our food,  bev,  HBA,  etc) the receipts have to move lockstep with sales. Todays receipts =tomorrow’s sales,  +/- fixture fill and safety stock/lead times. If sales jump 10% receipts must jump as well.

In Fast Fashion?  Cant  buy it back normally,  so I want to decrement the inventory to show future impact.  Ultimately the receipts have to compensate,  but there is more timing /availability to factor.
Jewelry,  high end,  watches?
Some of both. 

And in Branded goods?  Well,  hopefully replenishment already caught it,  bought it,  and trended orders as needed. (see Replenishment 101)

Just need to software companies to match whats in my head and we’ll get along just fine.

-That Planning Guy

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