What Makes a Great Inventory Planner?

Twelve Qualities of a Successful Inventory Planner

Inventory planning sometimes seems like a no-win proposition. Too much or

not enough, each scenario has a serious impact on a businesses reputation,
efficiency and profitability. Physicist Niels Bohr put it best, Prediction is very
difficult, especially about the future."
Fortunately, optimal fulfillment, forecast and inventory turn results can be
consistently achieved through the alignment of the appropriate processes,
systems and most importantly, people. Through my experience in hiring and
developing inventory teams, I have identified the key professional qualities
inherent to the most successful inventory planners.

With inventory dollars accounting for one of the largest assets on a retailers
balance sheet, it is important that the properly qualified personnel oversee
the management of the inventory. It is ironic that in some organizations, this
important financial responsibility is assigned to lower paid, entry level or
under-qualified people. Planners can be responsible for millions of dollars of
purchasing, while also directly affecting customer satisfaction through
adequate instock. These are critical responsibilities with an impact on the
success of the business that few others in the organization hold. The most
successful retailers elevate the planning position and function, fully
integrating it within all aspects of the organization. Positive business results
come from the communication and collaboration between the inventory,
product/merchandising, creative, financial and supply chain teams. The key
aspect to the successful implementation of the role of inventory
management within the overall business process is the hiring and developing
of the right people for the inventory planner position. You can have the
best inventory processes and systems in the world, but an unqualified
planner will lead to subpar results, missed opportunities and unnecessary
expense.

So what qualities really define a great inventory planner?

It is not simply a matter of hiring analytical personalities or statistical

experts and expecting them to be successful planners. Great inventory
planners can be developed from a wide variety of disciplines and
backgrounds, as long as they possess the foundational characteristics
outlined here. The key is to identify and hire candidates with a good balance
of quantitative skills and qualitative thinking. A common assumption is to
stereotype a planner as a purely numbers person, when in fact, the best
planners possess both strong analytical and resourceful creative skills. They
should be able to think objectively while interpreting meaningful insight from
both quantitative data and qualitative factors.
 I have found the following attributes to be most indicative of the best
inventory planners:

1. Quantitative Analytical Skills: There is no substitute for strong

analytical and logical thought process as a key component of a
planners mindset. They need to have a proclivity for working with
numbers, reports and data analysis. This does not mean they have to
be statistical experts; however, they must have an understanding of
business math and the ability to relate to and form conclusions using
numerical data.

2. Systems Aptitude: It is also imperative to possess the interest and

aptitude to understand and utilize the systems and programs that
support the planning and decision making process. A successful
planner is proficient with planning systems, but also knows that
systems have limitations and do not always account for unanticipated
variables and evolving trends. This is where good judgment and
experience become critical to a successful process.

3. Technical Knowledge: An astute planner has an understanding of

the definitions and formulas of the key inventory metrics. They should
know what it means to turn the inventory, how weeks of supply and
safety stock are determined, why it is crucial to judiciously utilize open
to buy dollars. They should understand the statistical factors and
variables producing the forecast, while aware of variances, risks and
accuracy levels. An understanding of the meanings behind the metrics
helps them to value the implications of their actions on the bigger
operational and financial picture.

4. Perspective: Successful planners have the ability to think globally

and strategically, with a perspective of the business beyond the SKU
level. They understand the aggregate inventory positioning as it
relates to the instock, open to buy and turn objectives. They are aware
of the organizations business strategy and how their decisions can
impact the overall success and profitability of the organization.

5. Clear Communication. It is essential to ensure direct and timely

communication of relevant issues to all appropriate stakeholders. This
includes knowing when to use a phone call or personal contact, rather
then solely relying on email. It is a small, connected world today, and
there should be no reason for uncertainty or surprises along the supply
 chain highway. Great planners also have the ability to extrapolate
meaningful insight from large volumes of data, summarize it and
communicate findings in a concise way. It is an art to be able to
translate data into actionable information and drive positive results.

6. Ownership: Planners should treat their area of responsibility as if it

were their own business or store. This level of focus requires the
diligence and pride to do what is necessary to effectively manage the
shop. The reality is that there are real people (customers) and
physical product behind each number on a spreadsheet. Satisfying
those customers will ultimately determine the planners success and
contribute to the profitability of the business. Planners should be
engaged and accountable for achievement of their assigned strategic
goals and results.

7. Focus: Not everyone can sit in front of a computer for eight hours a
day, concentrating on numbers and spreadsheets. Planners must have
the discipline and the ability to focus on a range of various SKU level
details. The most important aspect of being in or out of stock is the
accuracy of the individual SKU level plan/forecast. The top-level
plans/forecasts are important, but the SKU level inventory position
ultimately determines the customer fulfillment and inventory related
expenses.

8. Prioritization: In addition to being able to focus on the important

details, the planner must also maintain a practical perspective and not
get buried in the minutia of voluminous data. There is almost no limit
to the amount of data available so it is important that priorities be set
and a method of identifying outliers/exceptions be identified. The
80/20 rule applies fittingly to SKU management as generally 80% of
the sales volume is generated by 20% of the SKUs. The planner must
prioritize their workload to first address the critical 20% of the SKUs
that have the greatest impact on the business. Since planners are
responsible for numerous SKUs, prioritization skills and the use of
exception reporting is critical.

9. Sound Judgment: A planner should have a pragmatic approach to

decision making, using system recommendations and qualitative
analysis to evaluate risk/reward scenarios and make the appropriate
decisions that are aligned with the strategic goals. It is important that
system generated recommendations be evaluated for reasonableness
to avoid unintended output. The planner should have the ability to
 approach problems and data objectively and form conclusions despite
ambiguous information.

10. Follow Through: Challenges and roadblocks are part of any job,
so the planner must have the initiative and diligence to persistently
manage through issues to resolution. It is important that the planner
build collaborative relationships with business partners to coordinate
operational process and to help resolve issues. The best planners are
really facilitators of the supply chain, taking on the responsibility of
seeing that every step of the supply chain is executed efficiently to
ensure timely instock. They have the persistence to follow through
and not accept no for an answer when hitting roadblocks within the
supply chain.

11. Proactive/Sense of Urgency: A strong planner is proactive in

identifying opportunities and risks to the business, utilizing the
appropriate level of urgency to address critical issues. Being proactive
to developing business trends and urgently resolving problems can
make the difference between positive results or mediocrity. The
planners early identification of fast or slow sellers, allows for actions to
maximize revenue opportunities or mitigate expenses. Addressing
opportunities and issues with a sense of urgency can generate revenue
and control expenses across the organization.

12. Positive Attitude: The most successful people in any job have
a positive attitude and a desire to continually learn and contribute
excellence in the jobs execution. They have an enthusiasm for the
challenges and they work passionately to meet or exceed their
assigned goals. They do not accept the status quo, always looking for
innovative ways to enhance processes and improve results. Without a
positive attitude, all of the prior skills will not be fully maximized and
the investment of time and training will be underutilized.

So how do you identify and hire the people with the best potential to be
successful planners?

In the interview process, first review their analytical skills and systems
knowledge. Ask for examples of how they have completed projects or
resolved issues using data analysis. Ascertain their experience and comfort
level when working with unfiltered data. Get a good sense of the thought
process they apply when resolving issues. Then move on to ask questions
that go beyond analytical evaluation to gain an understanding of their of
their qualitative reasoning process. What type of relevant factors would they
review in addition to numerical facts? What internal and external rationale
would they base their decisions on? How do they weigh the risk/reward
trade-off of a decision? Are they capable of independent thought,
considering all pertinent variables or do they rely solely on system
recommendations? Do they have the desire to take ownership of their
business and proactively take the necessary actions to ensure positive
results? Have they demonstrated persistent follow through on challenges
and are they adept at problem solving? If the situation allows, it can be
advantageous to hire candidates identified with potential planning skills as
temporary employees. An evaluation period is established for training and
exposure to the process, helping to determine if they have a strong aptitude
to become a competent planner.

Hiring and developing planners with comprehensive quantitative and

qualitative skill sets, based on the attributes shown above, will go a long way
in creating a robust, responsive and respected inventory control
organization.

Paul Angelos has twenty-five years of inventory control and supply chain
experience, working with start-up organizations and the largest branded
retailers, developing planning processes, systems and people. He can be
contacted though LinkedIn or email at: paulangelos44@gmail.com