Supply Chain Planning System Selections

Our value proposition lies in the process that ensures requirements are not a regurgitation of the current state, but a well developed visionary view of capabilities that will achieve organizational objectives, and that the leadership team is well aligned to those objectives, and these objectives are ready to be vetted with the broader organization and potential partners.

Supply Chain software selections are critical decision points, representing large investment decisions and bringing substantial risk to the organization to align processes to software capabilities and manage change within the organization and with suppliers and customers.

SCT Advisory provides RFI and RFP support for Supply Chain Planning System Selections that help our clients establish key requirements and business priorities, driving consensus and mindshare in program objectives and resource requirements while navigating the broad array of SCP providers in the marketplace considering cost, capability, and culture.

• Stakeholder Alignment & Program Charters – Interviews with key stakeholders are combined with SCT-led education on the current Warehouse Management technology landscape with a focus on your critical business needs and opportunities. Aligning on key objectives for the project through a high-level review, or a detailed Operations Assessment will allow SCT to build consensus and shared vision across the organization for SCP project objectives to ensure alignment during the requirements definition and vendor selection.
• Integrated System Architecture & Analytics Design – As SCT lays out a broad view of the provider landscape, it is often necessary to shortlist those providers that are more likely to participate in the proposed architecture.  From the basics of assortments to demand planning, capacity planning, and sourcing (all buoyed by integrated business planning) to advanced data requirements and capabilities such as category management and shelf planning, control towers and demand shaping, as well as additional demand and supply signals, network and inventory optimization capabilities.  Vendor identification and interviews allow our clients to hear the stories and prioritize activities in a way that will provide the needed insight to develop scope for the evaluation and program planning exercises.  The output is a longer term vision to a holistic architecture that establishes a foundational alignment for roadmap development and vendor selection purposes.
• Requirements Definition – Detailed process walk-throughs through each area of the business and user persona allows SCT to align current state capabilities to best practices, identifying the list of critical capabilities needed from a new supply chain planning solution.  The output is a prioritized list of requirements to be used in an RFI/RFP, along with any near-term improvements that can be achieved prior to a more formal project.
• Critical Differentiators – SCT’s elevation of critical requirements and differentiators across functional requirements and provider approach can be leveraged in weighted scorecards as an effective tool to socialize priorities across different stakeholder entities within the organization and to ensure that priorities are aligned when selecting a vendor and solution.

SCT Advisory provides RFI and RFP support for Supply Chain Planning systems and associated technology selections by capturing and prioritizing key business requirements, facilitating the organizational alignment on program objectives while orchestrating the selection process with the right group of WMS providers given the required capabilities, budget and culture fit.  Our unique value proposition combines the depth of familiarity with the solutions and how they can be configured or customized to achieve process objectives and operational results, combined with an understanding of the effort required to translate requirements into systems capabilities.  We drive aggressive plans with the partners, while setting realistic expectations and contingency plans with our clients.

SCT Advisory provides RFI and RFP support for Supply Chain Planning System Selections that help our clients establish key requirements and business priorities, driving consensus and mindshare in program objectives and resource requirements while navigating the broad array of Supply Chain Planning and Integrated Business Planning providers in the marketplace considering cost, capability, and culture.

• Sourcing Strategy, RFP Oversight, & Vendor Selection – As SCT lays out a broad view of the provider landscape, it is often necessary to shortlist those providers that are more likely to participate in the proposed architecture.  This may include large vendors, smaller providers that address the core requirements, niche providers of adjacent solutions, outsourcing providers, data providers of demand and supply signals or related insights, and may extend into platform capabilities for data management, workflow automation, agentic AI, and integration /connectivity.  Vendor identification and interviews allow our clients to hear the stories and prioritize activities in a way that will provide the needed insight to develop scope for the evaluation and program planning exercises.
• RFP Management – Managing vendor communications, scoring responses, consolidating evaluations, and tracking contract progress can be time-consuming and complex. Our proven methodology streamlines this process, keeping it efficient and transparent—while providing clear updates and recommendations to your executive team.  Vendor demonstrations are a critical step in vetting the solutions and ensuring consensus on success factors and preferred vendors across the organization which is critical to the success of the overall program.  SCT provides vendors with guidance on your organizational priorities and while presenting what we see as critical differentiators to you for a 360-degree view of the options to choose from.  Briefing sessions following the demonstrations translate vendor positioning into valid expectations, and roundtable discussions unveil any reservations from the team that can be addressed in future conversations with the vendors.
• Program Planning – Company-wide projects require careful collaboration, roadmap development, milestone planning, and executive engagement. With hundreds of supply chain projects completed, SCT knows which questions to ask, critical success milestones to track, and KPIs to monitor—helping you build a strategic program plan that drives lasting value across your organization.  Following vendor demonstrations, as the preferred solution is materializing, Scoping workshops allow our customers to dig deeper into capabilities and setup requirements to more fully develop an appreciation for solution capabilities and the effort required to achieve them.  SCT facilitates workshops with 1-2 vendors to walk through the day in the life of warehouse operation (end to end given the surrounding system architecture), implementation methodology, roles and responsibilities, and critical success factors.
• Scoping, Scheduling, and Roles & Responsibilities – Following vendor demonstrations, as the preferred solution is materializing, Scoping workshops allow our customers to dig deeper into capabilities and setup requirements to develop an appreciation more fully for solution capabilities and the effort required to achieve them.  SCT facilitates workshops with 1-2 vendors to walk through the day in the life of a demand planner, replenishment planner, supply chain analyst and category owner (end to end given the surrounding system architecture), implementation methodology, roles and responsibilities, and critical success factors.  As best as we can understanding what is real or in the “black box”?
• Program Justification & Business Case Preparation – Investment priorities will be scoped and sequenced, providing clarity on transformation strategies and business justification.  Cost estimation and returns on investment will be combined into a time phased justification for your program, and combined with soft benefits and insights to socialize effort & procure funding.

SCT’s advisors integrate with your project teams to help extend conversations related to supply chain planning project design and its successful delivery.    Embedding ourselves into regular conversations with program stakeholders provides a third-party view of progress and a supportive yet challenging voice seeking to provide optimal impacts and value realized from of your supply chain planning solutions, while minimizing the disruptions that might result in the process.  Participating in or leading steering committee meetings provides a third party view free from internal politics on the readiness for system cutovers as well as the ability of the solution to achieve value.

Implementing supply chain planning effectively requires a strategic approach and careful consideration of various factors. SCT utilizes certified program management professions experienced in agile methodologies to implement and drive value quickly. SCT’s advisors integrate with your project teams to help extend conversations related to project design and its successful delivery. Embedding ourselves into regular conversations with program stakeholders provides a third-party view of progress and a supportive yet challenging voice seeking to provide optimal impacts and value realized from of your Supply Chain Planning system, while minimizing the disruptions that might result in the process.

• Industry Best Practices – SCT initiates projects by level setting stakeholders and team members on overall program strategies and crucial success factors for the implementation.  Reviewing 360-degree perspectives of the effort across workstreams and critical inter-dependencies drives communication and collaboration and establishes a sense of team building to ensure shared objectives in terms of schedule and results that can be tracked to and remedied should challenges arise.
• Throughout the design phase, our subject matter experts participate in design sessions across operations, functionality, and technology.  Special considerations to best practice ensure that current state processes are not simply replaced, but where possible, new thought and improvements are infused into the future state design.
• Implementation Methodology – Following the critical elements of a best in class methodology assures solution readiness and business preparations to absorb the extended capabilities that implementations have to offer. Our advisors, through years of experience, ensure the rigorous exercises of data cleanliness, testing thoroughness, and robust training are executed in alignment with the appropriate milestones.
• Change Management – In addition to process design, SCT pays special attention to program methodologies across testing, training, and cutover planning.  Best practices in implementation extends well beyond a good design and well implemented system, and SCT acts as a coach and collaborator to ensure valuable work products are delivered in accordance with best in class change management practices.  
• Program Leadership Alignment & Coaching – Ensuring stakeholders maintain a clear line of sight to both project success and program objectives is critical.  Opportunity often lies beyond your typical cadence of status reporting and milestone presentations.  With ongoing and frequent dialogue beyond the mechanics, our advisors will cultivate a dialogue with project stakeholders deliberating project risks related to people, process, and technology, adding rigor to change management and calibrating scoping decisions to balance results with objectives around schedule and costs.
• Steering Committee Oversight & Support – Formal, objective reviews of program success prove useful to calibrating program investment.  Our advisors, extracted from the day to day challenges of operations and project management, provide a useful rudder to steer your program to achieve its longer term vision, and serve as a reality check when responding to trends and anticipating potential disruptions.