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The field · Vendor-neutral

Six questions to ask any decision intelligence vendor, including us.

Every demo looks good on the data it was built for. The useful test is what happens when the forecast is wrong, the supplier confirms late and the CFO asks what the protection cost. These questions travel to any evaluation.
Illustrative concept: ▤ Plans Coordinates functions around one forecast ⚙ Automates Agents act faster on the same single number ◆ Decides Ranges, one objective, priced protection, bounds and memory▤PlansCoordinates functions aroundone forecast⚙AutomatesAgents act faster on thesame single number◆DecidesRanges, one objective,priced protection, boundsand memory
Three archetypes

Planning, automating and deciding are different jobs.

Single-forecast planning platform
Automation of a single-number plan
Resilient decision intelligence
Strength
Coordinates demand, supply and finance; runs optimization and scenarios
Faster answers, alerts and routine actions
Commitments judged across futures against one enterprise objective
Uncertainty
Collapsed into one forecast early
The same forecast, refreshed faster
Kept as ranges until decisions are made
Objective
Each function's KPI
The same KPIs, automated
Economic profit within leadership's risk limits
Protection
Buffers after the plan
Automated expediting
Priced and chosen with the plan
Trigger to act
The calendar
Every signal
A change that crosses the plan's bounds
Memory
Plan versions
Action logs
Each run's inputs and outputs, and over time the reasoning behind it
Six questions

Ask these on your own data, not the vendor's.

≈

1. What happens to what we cannot control?

A strong answer keeps demand, lead times, yields and costs as ranges learned from your history. A weak answer asks you to type one number per driver.
Ranges
∑

2. Whose number does it optimize?

A strong answer judges decisions against one enterprise objective, such as economic profit. A weak answer improves each function's KPI and leaves the trade-offs to a meeting.
One objective
✚

3. Where does protection come from, and what does it cost?

A strong answer chooses inventory, capacity, sources and terms with the plan and shows the cost beside the exposure removed. A weak answer adds buffer afterward.
Priced protection
◎

4. When does it act, and when does it leave the plan alone?

A strong answer checks each change against the bounds the plan can absorb. A weak answer replans on every signal, or only when the calendar says so.
Bounds
⌖

5. Who sets the limits, and can the system change them?

A strong answer: leadership sets objectives, service floors, risk limits and approval rules, and the engine cannot relax them or grant itself authority.
Governance
▤

6. In six months, will we know why we decided?

A strong answer keeps what was known, the alternatives, the approvals and the outcome with each decision. A weak answer keeps a log of what happened.
Memory
Concept 1

Planning for one future versus planning for the range.

Single-future planning treats every driver as one number and finds the best plan for that one imagined future. It is precise about a future that will not arrive exactly as drawn.

Planning for the range treats the same drivers as the ranges they are and asks which plan holds up across the futures that could arrive. The work is harder; the answer is one a board can defend.

Illustrative concept: PROTECTED Plan chosen across the range Single-forecast plan ONE FUTURE VERSUS THE RANGE Range of plausible futuresPROTECTEDPlan chosen across the rangeSingle-forecast planONE FUTURE VERSUS THE RANGERange of plausible futures
Illustrative concept: SENSE · WHAT YOU CANNOT CONTROL SHAPE · WHAT YOU CAN Demand Lead times Yields Costs and prices Rules and tariffs Commitments Capacity Price and terms Sourcing Protection Decision Policy one enterprise objective A range of enterprise outcomesSENSE · WHAT YOU CANNOT CONTROLSHAPE · WHAT YOU CANDemandLead timesYieldsCosts and pricesRules and tariffsCommitmentsCapacityPrice and termsSourcingProtectionDecision Policyone enterprise objectiveA range of enterprise outcomes
Concept 2

A plan is numbers for one future. A policy is what leadership wants and will not accept.

When the forecast moves, a plan goes stale and the next one quietly undoes the last one's commitments.

A Decision Policy states the objective, how protective to be and who approves what; the rules beside it state the service promises and limits to honor. Decisions are re-made inside it as the future arrives, so the posture stays consistent while the numbers change.

Concept 3

Judge decisions in the currency the CFO reports.

Many planning tools maximize a service level, a fill rate or forecast accuracy. None is the number the business is judged on.

Economic profit (EVA), profit after a charge for the capital it ties up, puts revenue, cost, working capital and expedites in one currency. Leadership then decides how much weight to give the average year and how much the bad years.

Illustrative concept: Economic profit (EVA) Revenue Operating cost Capital charge Price realization Service level Freight and expedites Changeovers Inventory Receivables EVERY OPERATING NUMBER TRACED TO THE ONE THAT MATTERSEconomic profit (EVA)RevenueOperating costCapital chargePricerealizationService levelFreight andexpeditesChangeoversInventoryReceivablesEVERY OPERATING NUMBER TRACED TO THE ONE THAT MATTERS
Speed is not the test

Questions about agents, automation and speed.

Isn't faster replanning enough?
Speed of response is not quality of response. Replanning faster on the same single number reaches the same brittle answer sooner.
Can we add agents to our current planning?
You can, and they will automate today's assumptions. Autonomy without resilience is just faster risk; bounds and priced protection should come first.
Should every signal trigger action?
No. A plan built for a range absorbs most changes. Acting on every blip creates churn, expedites and nervous plans without improving the outcome.
How do we compare vendors fairly?
Give each the same history and the same decision, then judge the answers across the same futures, including the bad ones, not on one forecast.
Try the questions on us

Bring the six questions and one real decision.

Ask them of VYAN in a working session on a decision your team is weighing now.
Book your PULSE workshop ↗