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board CPM Integrated Business Planning

Analyze. simulate. plan., optimize your business we look forward to advise you, board integrated business planning (ibp).

A more networked approach is needed to meet the challenges of modern planning. Integrating and eliminating silos in the planning process improves alignment and transparency, increases accountability, and generates better decisions. This leads to a noticeable increase in business results in the company.

As a best practice process, integrated business planning is increasingly becoming the new standard for modern planning activities. With IBP, a coordinated go-to-market plan is created, with input from all departments and taking into account available capabilities, resources and production capacity. This guarantees maximum success potential. Unlike traditional annual planning activities, integrated business planning is a continuous process with constant review and adjustment

As part of the only all-in-one BI & CPM product on the market, IBP provides Board IBP offers all the benefits of the Board decision-making platform, seamlessly combines analysis and reporting with planning, forecasting and simulation processes.

Depending on your preference, this planning solution can be licensed from  Board  On Premises or as a cloud platform. We at BLUEBIRD Consulting will be happy to advise you in deciding which license combination is right for your company and your use case.

Integrated Business Planning (IBP) Approach

A collaborative strategy is essential to address contemporary planning challenges. By merging and eradicating isolated compartments in the planning process, we enhance coherence and openness, bolster responsibility, and make more informed choices. This results in a significant improvement in the company's performance outcomes.

As a best practice process, integrated business planning is increasingly becoming the new standard for modern planning activities. With IBP, a coordinated go-to-market plan is created, with input from all departments and taking into account available capabilities, resources and production capacity.

This guarantees maximum success potential. Unlike traditional annual planning activities, integrated business planning is a continuous process with constant review and adjustment.

Redefinition of IBP with Board

The combination of business intelligence and performance management capabilities, intelligent data entry, and a single, accurate set of enterprise data enables Board to support all activities associated with the integrated business planning approach:

Advantages of integrated business planning

Easier identification of cost savings potential and growth opportunities.

True integration makes the planning process more coherent and helps identify opportunities for cost savings, greater planning accuracy, and increased efficiency.

Company-wide performance transparency

Unlike heterogeneous spreadsheets and systems, integrated business planning consistently brings together performance data from all departments. This creates complete transparency about the impact of team activities on other activities as well as on the company’s overall results.

Alignment between strategic, financial and operational goals

Strengthening business partnering, all together, responsibility for the result, benefits of integrated business planning for the areas:.

Benefits of Board Integrated Business Planning for the financial sector

• More transparency and control across all business processes
• Better link between FP&A cycles, strategy and operations.
• Support strategic planning by evaluating and shortlisting initiatives.
• Promoting value creation throughout the company
• Improved business responsiveness through real-time forecasting based on current operational data
• Modern technological support for the cooperation of the finance department with operational units
• Seamless connection of financial planning and consolidation
• Analytical and strategic strengthening of controlling

Operations and Supply Chain

Benefits of Board Integrated Business Planning for Operations and Supply Chain:

• Detailed and timely analyses of individual supply stages, demand forecasts and costs
• Connecting layers of the supply chain to enable the transition from a traditional, cascading supply chain approach – with little or no communication between areas – to a common, parallel plan with full synchronization
• Linking supply chain and finance to align supply chain strategy with financial and Align business objectives to minimize risk and volatility in results
• Forecast and anticipate market changes in real time thanks to predictive forecasting and what-if analyses

Benefits of Board Integrated Business Planning for IT

• Replace redundant planning and BI tools within the IT landscape with the unified decision-making platform
• Simple, intuitive, and programming-free user interface that enables employees to act on their own and reduces IT support efforts
• Establish a “single point of truth” defined by a homogeneous and consistent set of metadata that integrates data from existing enterprise applications, data lakes, data warehouses, and other existing systems
• Manage user access through a robust and flexible enterprise security model that provides and can provide single sign-on and integrates with existing enterprise directories
• Reduction of total cost of ownership (TCO) through a single licensing model, short implementation times and low operating costs

Sales & Marketing

Benefits of Board Integrated Business Planning for Sales & Marketing

• Increase in demand through targeted marketing campaigns coordinated between sales and marketing
• Use historical performance metrics to assess the future prospects of the business, as well as investigate and influence customer behavior using predictive technology and AI
• Ability for sales managers to automatically allocate strategic goals across sales channels and products using advanced rules
• Management of budgets and forecasts, incl. Review, approval and versioning as well as commenting in an automated workflow

Benefits of Board Integrated Business Planning for HR

• Coordination with the production area ensures that the required production plan is always supported with sufficient resources
• Closing personnel gaps through cross-departmental reallocation, hiring or employment of temporary staff by means of intelligent resource management
• Accurately estimate personnel costs and evaluate the impact of promotions, salary increases, and special benefits with compensation management functions
• Constant monitoring of personnel expenses via a dedicated dashboard

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Complete Guide to Integrated Business Planning (IBP)

Integrated Business Planning, or IBP for short, is a strategic management process that connects various organizational departments to align business operations with financial goals. How? By integrating business functions – such as Sales, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain and Operations – to create a holistic view of the company’s performance and future direction. This blog post offers a comprehensive guide to discuss what precisely IBP entails and how Finance can drive business results and collaboration within the organization via a robust and comprehensive IBP process.

What Is IBP?

While the business world and Finance have always had shared language and acronyms, some new (and reimagined) acronyms may now be flooding your feed.  One such topic you may be hearing a lot about lately is Integrated Business Planning (IBP).  Yet the concept of IBP isn’t new. In fact, it’s related to Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) , a concept that’s been around awhile.

Still, IBP may seem overwhelming in the context of all the different acronyms related to financial and operational planning floating around lately.  For example, IBP, S&OP, eXtended Planning and Analysis (xP&A) and others are just a few acronyms muddying the waters.  But this comprehensive guide to all things IBP aims to help demystify the process.

So what, exactly, is IBP?

IBP ultimately aims to unify business strategy with planning, budgeting and forecasting activity for all business lines and functions – providing one version of the numbers.  In turn, a trusted, common view of the numbers provides a robust baseline for agile decision-making.  That common view also keeps all teams collectively trying to achieve the same corporate objectives while staying focused on specific KPIs. In other words, the different teams maintain their independence while working in unison to achieve corporate success by leveraging the same trusted and governed data.

The bottom line?  IBP is about aligning strategy intent, unifying planning processes and bringing the organization together.

How IBP Works

The IBP process is a framework to address the C-suite needs and help implement the business strategy and manage uncertainty to improve decision-making.  So what’s the secret sauce of IBP to make all of that happen?  A collaboration between the different teams under a single view of the numbers that must unequivocally be tied to financial performance.  That’s how the C-suite gets value from IBP. Consequently, Finance plays a central role in the IBP process.

IBP typically focuses on horizons of 24-60 months, as opposed to the short term.  That focus equates to Integrated Tactical Planning or Sales and Operations Planning and Execution.  Since the process must be fully integrated, it removes the departmental silos.  Plus, the IBP process must adapt to the organizational construct of every business (IBP isn’t a one-size-fits-all type of process).

A typical IBP process involves several stages:

• Data Collection and Analysis :  Gathering relevant data (e.g., sales forecasts, production capacities, inventory levels and financial projections) from different departments.
• Demand Planning:  Predicting future demand based on historical data, market trends, customer feedback and sales forecasts.
• Supply Planning:   Determining the resources and capabilities (e.g., materials, production capacity and distribution channels) needed to meet the forecasted demand.
• Financial Planning :  Developing financial plans and budgets aligned with the demand and supply forecasts, considering factors such as revenue targets, cost structures and investment requirements.
• Scenario Planning:   Creating alternative scenarios to assess how different strategies, market conditions or external factors impact business outcomes.
• Management Business Review :  Collaborating across departments to make informed decisions on resource allocation, investments, pricing strategies and operational adjustments.
• Execution and Monitoring :  Implementing the plans, tracking performance against targets, and continuously monitoring key metrics to identify deviations and take corrective actions.

The most efficient way to foster this collaboration is through a unified solution and data model that caters to the needs of the various agents involved on each review.  In fact, Figure 1 shows how one solution gathering all the capabilities in the greyed area under a unified data model is the most efficient approach to IBP.

Figure 1: A Unified Data Model for IBP

Core Elements and Stages of the IBP Process

The IBP process includes the following core elements:

• Governance Structure :  Establishing a cross-functional team with representatives from key departments to oversee the IBP process, define roles and responsibilities, and ensure alignment with organizational goals.
• Data Integration :  Integrating data from different systems and sources to create a single source of truth for decision-making, using technologies such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, Corporate Performance Management (CPM) tools, business intelligence (BI) tools and data analytics platforms.
• Collaborative Planning :  Encouraging collaboration and communication between departments to share insights, align objectives and develop consensus-based plans that support overall business objectives.
• Continuous Improvement :  Implementing feedback loops, performance reviews and process refinements to enhance the effectiveness and agility of the IBP process over time.

Want to learn how you can maximize the benefits of your IBP process and get leadership on board with the plan?  Check out our eBook Unifying Integrated Business Planning Across Finance and Supply Chain .  You’ll learn how to unify IBP across Finance and Supply Chain teams and read about use cases as proof points.  Plus, you’ll gain an understanding of the unique capabilities OneStream’s Intelligent Finance Platform brings to unify Finance and Supply Chain planning activities.

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What Is Integrated Business Planning and Why Is It Important?

Think of modern integrated business planning, or IBP, as a mashup of supply chain optimization, financial planning and analysis (FP&A) and operational best practices, powered by a companywide culture that’s all about delivering the speed, savings and responsiveness today’s consumers demand while managing risk.

Note that IBP as a fuzzy, buzzword-laden process methodology has been around for years. It’s usually implemented by expensive consultants in sprawling, global corporations that know they need to unify siloed sales, supply, financial and operational resources — before more nimble competitors relegate them to the former Fortune 500 list.

We’re here to argue that IBP deserves a second look for any company that wants to maximize profits and minimize the risks associated with growth. No six-figure consultant required.

What Is Integrated Business Planning?

On paper, IBP is a process for aligning a company’s business goals with its finance, supply chain, product development, marketing and other operational functions. Think parts suppliers that work with automakers and need to constantly retool to accommodate design changes, or food producers operating on razor-thin margins that must manage both uncertain supply chains and fickle customer tastes.

Lag, and a competitor is standing by to take that business. Move quickly but in a disjointed manner and you may keep customers, but at the expense of higher cost of goods sold (COGS) and lower profitability.

For example, consider PickerBots, a fictional maker of custom machinery for manufacturing and warehouse operations. When the company launched in 2017, it found a niche in restaurant supply, but when that business slowed significantly in 2020 the founders decided to retool. Rather than simply changing up its marketing, the firm set out to revamp its business strategy. A top-down scenario planning exercise led to realigning its R&D, demand forecasting, profitability and revenue analysis, supply chain planning and marketing and sales strategy.

The company culture was already strong on innovative thinking, but the founders realized that the link between strategic planning and day-to-day operations could use improvement. Enter a new COO with the chops to align operations with product demand planning and sales and marketing while weighing in on financial targets and budgets.

Key Takeaways

• In a company that embraces IBP, there’s a direct line from purchasing, production and inventory to sales and marketing to financial targets and budgets.
• A key IBP benefit is that materials are bought at the right price, at the right time and in just the right quantity to fulfill market demand.
• Successful IBP delivers closer collaboration and more trust among departments, leading to improved decision-making.
• IBP may require significant cultural change and cannot be successful without unwavering commitment from the executive team.

Integrated Business Planning Explained

Many organizations mistake IBP for a supply-chain-centric exercise. While linking supply chain planning with other departments, from sales and operations through finance, is important, that’s just one element.

IBP aligns business g oals and financial t argets with decisions and execution across the entire business.

There is overlap with financial planning and analysis (FP&A). Because an IBP initiative gathers data from across the enterprise, companies get better at predictive analysis. Now, when purchasing forecasts a parts shortage, supply and operations can adjust before customers are affected.

It’s also not a one-and-done exercise. PickerBots’ new COO advises looking a minimum of 36 months out. Leaders will need to keep their eyes on that long-range plan while continually reviewing, revising and communicating financial and operating results. What supply chain gaps have opened up, and how can we close them? Do we need to update our scenario planning? Are we tracking the right financial KPIs?

A crucial element of IBP is that it integrates financials with operations. Here’s a structure that PickerBots plans to follow.

Why Is Integrated Business Planning Important?

Companies that undertake IBP realize a number of practical benefits, including reduced holding costs, more responsive customer service and demand fulfillment, shorter time to market for new products and an improved correlation between demand planning and fulfillment.

After PickerBot’s scenario planning and strategy session, the company decided to jump into the emerging collaborative robot, or cobot, market. A collaborative robot is designed to safely interact with human workers. PickerBot’s leaders believe demand will increase for “pick and place” cobots with fine motor skills for use on manufacturing lines as well as in agricultural settings.

Now that the company has its strategic direction, the COO wants to focus on three higher-level concepts before delving into more practical areas, like financial planning and analysis and supply chain optimization. That’s because without goal-setting, PickerBots won’t be able to define success.

Alignment and accountability 

All executives must agree on three things: What are our corporate goals? What does success look like for each? How will I and my team contribute and be accountable?

The company’s goals are grouped into four areas: industry-focused, operations and supply chain, financial and marketing and sales. The management team will review all goals to make sure they align with strategy and are both actionable and achievable.

Industry-focused goal: Offer the most innovative cobots on the market

What success looks like: Develop a product that can match or exceed a human worker in its ability to pick fragile crops without damage.

Who will execute: The R&D team

Financial goal: Diversify revenue streams

What success looks like: Minimize dependence on one market/industry. Add a services arm to generate recurring revenue from maintenance contracts, powered by sensors built in to all new products.

Who will execute: Cross-functional led by CEO and finance

Other goals might be “control costs at each step and deliver cobots to customers on time and to specifications” with an expectation to lower COGS by 10% and raise the company’s Net Promoter Score by 25% within one year. Or for sales, “find 10 new customers for the company’s agricultural cobots and bundle maintenance contracts with each sale.” That ties back to revenue diversification.

An important point: Every manager is accountable for every goal, not just those that lie within their purviews.

Informed decisions and actions 

Planning across PickerBots’ supply chain was disjointed, with engineers purchasing materials direct and little central planning or cost control. As part of the IBP process, the company will adopt sales and operations planning (S&OP) principles to improve its supply chain and logistics.

Actionable goals here include building visibility into how each department is working and tying the impact of decisions to financial goals. For example, by having R&D build in sensors that can automatically collect and transmit data on a cobot’s operational status, PickerBots can proactively perform preventative maintenance so the devices are almost never down — an important selling point and a way to contribute to maintenance income.

Organizationwide, divisions need to focus less on their own needs and view actions through the lens of all goals. That means the company needs to collect a lot of timely data and use it to issue reports so managers can make better decisions, more quickly. That may require an investment in ERP and other software.

Transparency/visibility 

All department heads will take part in a monthly business review, where the group will assess progress in achieving the company’s objectives. The strategic plan is also available to all staff members, and quarterly all-hands meetings will be held to gather ideas and insights and walk through KPIs.

Four success metrics for the IBP process include:

1. Getting all stakeholders to buy in to corporate goals so that everyone agrees and understands what the business wants to achieve and how it will get there. There are clear responsibilities for each function in the pursuit of goals.

2. Basing business decisions on data. The integration of finance into product, demand and supply functions is key here, as are selecting the right KPIs.

3. Tying decision-making to outcomes and improving accountability. Because every department is responsible for providing accurate numbers and projections, there’s less risk that the CFO and finance team are left holding the bag if revenues fall short.

4. Shifting the culture to embrace cross-functional collaboration. An IBP process encourages openness and trust, and as a result more deeply engages and empowers employees. As an action item, each R&D and manufacturing team member will spend a week annually accompanying sales reps on customer calls.

What Is the Difference Between S&OP and IBP?

The term “IBP” was coined by management consultancy Oliver Wight to describe the next iteration of the sales and operations planning (S&OP) process Wight developed in the early 1980s.

The big difference between IBP and S&OP is that the latter has become the domain of supply chain and logistics specialists, particularly those involved in supply-and-demand balancing and planning. S&OP is execution-focused and involves a traditional budgeting process.

In contrast, IBP takes a more cross-functional and holistic approach to weaving business goals through every function. As a result, in theory, supply chain management is proactive and optimized.

IBP includes S&OP processes but because it involves cultural change, without executive buy-in, IBP will not be successful.

Some major differences between S&OP and IBP are:

6 Steps in the Integrated Business Planning Process

Now that its goals are set, PickerBots can take the next steps in its IBP journey.

1. Determine what is holding the company back. Is it a lack or growth or profitability? Is the product portfolio too complex? Has the business lost competitiveness in its space? For our manufacturing firm, the main problem was overfocus on one niche market.

2. Engage and educate employees. Once leadership buys in to goals, that enthusiasm must trickle down through the ranks. Unless everyone is committed to integrated business planning, success will be elusive. The COO recognizes that a formal employee engagement program will keep workers invested in the success of the business and actively working to meet strategic goals.

3. Set up a tiger team. IBP success comes from tight coordination, constant communication and accountability for KPIs. It’s a cultural shift that will take time to propagate throughout the business. To jumpstart things, PickerBots identified engaged employees within each functional area and assigned them to a daily 20-minute standup call. Now, say a shipment of RFID readers needed by manufacturing will be two weeks late. The purchasing team member shares that information promptly so that sales can manage customer expectations and finance can account for delayed revenue. If the problem recurs, the company can seek out new suppliers. No more surprises.

4. Establish a project/product prioritization process. IBP takes discipline. Only projects that forward the company’s strategic goals get resources. Same for products. That might mean sunsetting a line that’s still selling but lacks growth potential. All managers who require resources or have a product or service launch idea fill out a cost-benefit analysis template that is tailored to reveal whether expected benefits and costs align with goals. Leadership prioritizes using this process. No more sacred cows.

5. Expand the finance team’s influence. Finance needs to sit in on product planning, supply chain optimization and sales strategy meetings. Specifically, choose a finance team member well-versed in FP&A functions. FP&A professionals inform major decisions made by the executive team and collect and analyze financial data from across the organization to create reports that reveal whether goals are being met — and if not, why not? How do we fix the problem? Like many smaller firms, PickerBots doesn’t have a dedicated FP&A staffer, so the head of finance assigns an accounting team member who knows the business and has an aptitude for data collection and number crunching.

6. Adopt technology and tools to support IBP. If the forecasting process is seen as a quarterly or annual exercise imposed by finance and yielding little benefit to departments, IBP can’t succeed. Companies with static, point-in-time budgets need to adopt rolling forecasts to make sure the business stays on track. And, finance teams need to be able to easily access the data they need from each operational area. Both rolling forecasts and better use of data require technology and a commitment to transparency. You can’t manage what you can’t measure.

Traditional vs. Rolling Forecasts

5 tips to succeed at integrated business planning.

Some ways the COO plans to set PickerBots up for success include:

1. Sell IBP as a way to bring order from chaos. For example, large companies, especially those that have engaged in a number of mergers and acquisitions, may have thousands of SKUs and product codes. One big manufacturer Oliver Wight worked with used IBP to whittle 120,000 item numbers down to about 10,000 and reduce inventories by 50% while improving on-time, in-full delivery by up to 20%. For a smaller company, IBP can prevent ever getting in a situation where it needs to slash 90% of SKUs.

2. Adopt a continuous improvement mindset. All parts of any production or service system, particularly people, are interconnected, inform one another and are mutually dependent on generating successful outcomes. This practice’s origin comes from Kaizen, a Japanese term meaning “change for the better.” Originating in Japan, the business philosophy looks to continuously improve operations and involve all employees, from assembly line workers to the CEO. It’s a way to reinforce IBP.

3. Get buy-in from the CIO. PickerBots’ CIO came up through the ranks of manufacturing IT and is familiar with the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM), which has overlap with IBP. That went a long way in communicating the benefits of IBP and freeing up budget for technologies that can make IBP work, like ERP, enterprise performance management (EPM), supply chain management and real-time-capable accounting and finance software — especially important to realize the “one set of numbers” value proposition.

4. Apply risk management principles. Disasters large and small happen. While the zen of IBP skews toward positive and upbeat, make sure department heads are doing scenario planning and what-if analyses to model operational risk — like overdependence on one market. Consider assigning your tiger team a secondary function as a crisis management strike force.

5. Don’t forget HR. Labor is likely your company’s biggest operating expense, so ensure that it’s working for your IBP effort, not against it. A human resources professional can identify traits in applicants — like team players who are data driven and comfortable with transparency — that predict whether they will be contributors to IBP success.

Benefits of Integrated Business Planning

Research shows that the main benefit of implementing IBP is increased revenue, followed by forecast accuracy and improved Perfect Order Delivery rates.

Three additional key benefits:

Real-time insights: Once companies have instituted rolling forecasts, for example, finance can more quickly and accurately answer questions on spending and cash flow. Expect more accurate KPIs across the board.

Ownership: The flip side of accountability is that in a company fully embracing IBP, all employees assume responsibility for meeting all goals. So you’d better make sure that authority to make decisions is decentralized and tied to responsibility for outcomes, because there are few bigger morale killers than accountability without the power to effect success. Companies can further nurture a culture of ownership by tying rewards to meeting or exceeding goals.

Improved customer satisfaction: While more on-time, in-full deliveries make customers happy, that’s not the only way IBP improves Net Promoter Scores. Better planning yields better insights into what customers want, and a strong company culture often leads to improved customer empathy and its associated benefits.

Integrated Business Planning Adoption Challenges

Where a business starts with IBP depends on its maturity. Companies with dog-eat-dog cultures and highly siloed processes have a lot of work to do. These tend to be firms with traditional top-down management structures, static annual budgeting with little ability to generate forward-looking projections and dated business plans that are misaligned with current customer needs.

While all are thorny structural challenges, a leadership team that’s averse to placing trust and decision-making authority at lower levels of the organization is in even worse shape. Companies with autocratic, command-and-control styles must be willing to decentralize authority if they hope to realize IPB’s benefits.

Even businesses with mature, integrated processes and egalitarian cultures often get tripped up by “top down” versus “bottom up” KPI reporting and budgeting. IBP requires businesses to focus less on finance developing a top-line budget and then handing departmental budgets down from on high. Rather, they need to become comfortable with a bottom-up process, where departments start with a plan of what they want to achieve, calculate what it will cost and then feed a number up to the finance team, which uses that input to calculate the total budget.

Companies not already using at least a somewhat flexible budgeting process are likely to find this shift difficult. One way to jump-start the transformation might be a modern form of zero-based budgeting.

Steps of Zero-Based Budgeting for 2021

• Create a strategic vision for ZBB: Identify cost targets, relevant KPIs and goals.
• Evaluate business units to select ZBB candidates (also referred to as “decision units,” or any organ of the business that operates independently with its own budget).
• Start selected budgets from scratch (i.e., from zero).
• Each decision unit provides “decision packages,” which break down each activity in terms of its objective, funding needs, justification in the context of company goals, technical viability and alternative courses of action.
• Evaluate each proposed item to determine its value-add to the company and whether the entire cost is justified. What does the expenditure bring back to the company?
• Prioritize costs based on company goals. Reduce or cut expenses in areas that no longer produce significant value.
• Allocate funds among areas that are productive and aligned with the business’s growth drivers.

Elements of Integrated Business Planning

Integrated business planning takes place at a regular cadence; every month is most common, so we’ll use that in our example.

These steps are standard for IBP consultants, adaptable to most industries and bake in the PickerBots COO’s virtuous cycle of market research and strategic planning, R&D and manufacturing, demand forecasting and predictive analysis, profitability analysis, supply chain optimization and marketing and sales strategy.

1. Product management review. This includes all elements of product portfolio management. A cross-functional team meets monthly to review the overall status of all of product-related projects: Are they on track? Have we identified new risks and opportunities? Are the most high-value products or services prioritized? The goal is aligning the product portfolio with business goals and making sure needed raw materials and manufacturing floor capacity are lined up. Product managers revise as needed and publish an updated master plan, along with the resources it’ll take to deliver any changes.

2. Demand planning picks it up. This is a cross-functional process that helps businesses meet customer demand for products while minimizing excess inventory and avoiding supply chain disruptions. Demand planning can increase profitability and customer satisfaction and lead to efficiency gains. This team brings together members of sales, marketing and finance to determine whether they’re targeting the right markets, the right way. They work up an optimized demand plan. Relevant KPIs include sales forecast accuracy, inventory turns, fill rates and order fulfillment lead times.

3. Then, the ball goes to the supply planning team. These supply chain experts work out the optimal way to meet projected demand in a cost-effective way. The key is to have visibility into complex supply chains; a formal supply chain visibility (SCV) project helps spot and fix weaknesses, such as inventory shortfalls or order fulfillment issues, before they become major problems. Lower cost of goods sold (COGS) is the North star.

4. The integrated reconciliation team pulls together the initial product, demand and supply plans and consolidates them into one holistic business plan based on a 24- or 36-month projection; for iterative updates, teams highlight material changes. Decisions that could not be made by individual teams are prepared for executive review.

5. The executive team resolves conflicts and rolls the updated plan out to the entire company.

Integrated Business Planning Components

The components of integrated business planning comprise three buckets: Plan, execute and monitor and adjust.

Specific actions falling into each bucket vary depending on the consultancy or technology supplier. Some are more aligned with supply chain planning, while others center on S&OP or financial planning with plug-ins to other functional areas. Others are very industry-specific.

Let’s look at Oracle’s IBPX (Integrated Business Planning and Execution) for Manufacturing solution as an example. Key components include:

• Top-down and bottom-up, driver-based planning and forecasting
• Risk modeling for M&A and strategic initiatives
• Full financial statement structure for strategic and operational planning
• Predictive and prescriptive analytics and planning
• A preseeded S&OP process
• Near-real-time demand and supply balancing
• Real-time backlog management
• Automation of predictions and correction actions based on actuals
• AI-enabled operational planning, such as for sales territories and quotas
• IoT and sensor data flows integrated with automated decisions

Items like backlog management and enhanced support for IoT and sensor data are important to manufacturers like PickerBots. A retailer might be more interested in advanced inventory management. What’s important is that any solution, whether purchased as a suite or pulled together by an integrator or in-house team, supports the ability to do long- and medium-range and short-term planning based on a single, up-to-date data set that’s accessible to all authorized stakeholders.

Also look for the ability to easily model “what-if” scenarios, robust budgeting and costing and a roadmap to advanced technologies like AI and predictive analytics.

Integrated Business Planning Examples

We mentioned the Oliver Wight customer that whittled 120,000 SKUs down to about 10,000. That firm, Uponor Group, looked to IBP after a string of acquisitions left it with swelling inventories, an extremely complex portfolio and a lack of communication between siloed functions and far-flung locations. The Finnish company sells products for drinking water delivery as well as radiant heating and cooling equipment and has 3,900 employees in 30 countries. Uponor had a hard time getting a singular view of financial information across its subsidiaries, and each unit had its own practices for inventory management. Small events, such as holidays, would drive some sites to build up “just in case” inventory, and double-stocking in warehouses was common. Subsidiaries in different countries had different SKUs for the same items, and R&D was localized, with no collaboration across the company.

Upinor focused first on its supply chain and implemented S&OP processes, then advanced to IBP the following year. The results have been an increase in net sales of $1.1 billion euros, a 30% improvement in on-time in-full deliveries, a 50% reduction in inventories and increased visibility.

U.S.-based technology provider Juniper Networks also undertook an IBP project focused on implementing a digital supply chain with IBP, where the business planning process would extend S&OP throughout the supply chain, product and customer portfolios, customer demand and strategic planning.

Since undertaking the project, Juniper’s lead-time attainment is up 55%. and its inventory costs are down by 15%, allowing it to realize a positive ROI on the IBC project.

History of Integrated Business Planning

Oliver Wight developed S&OP in the 1980s as a methodology for a client that wanted to balance supply-and-demand volume. In the years since, the process evolved to integrate financials, inventory and new-product introductions.

The consultancy renamed S&OP as integrated business planning in the late 1990s to reflect the process of integrating all functions of the business behind one optimized plan. Since then, a newer term, “enterprise integrated business planning,” has emerged. EIBP includes scenario planning and extended supply chain collaboration and discusses how large companies will adopt new technologies, such as AI, big data and advanced analytics.

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Applications of Integrated Business Planning

IBP makes planning and operations much more transparent, so it’s ideal for companies moving to “just in time” manufacturing. It’s also predictive, once a company builds up some data. That can help with customer satisfaction.

PickerBots, as an example, found that it typically sees constrained supply chain capacity for motherboards in Q3. With that insight, sales and marketing can work to encourage customers to take delivery of systems in Q2 or Q4, manufacturing can prebuild products and supply chain leaders can work on alternate sources for parts that pose challenges.

Looking ahead to the future of IBP, we expect it to help companies:

• Work on ever-longer-range strategy planning, modeling and M&A activities with a higher degree of confidence.
• Detect and notify stakeholders of unanticipated events before they impact the business by using advanced technologies, including real-time sensor information and machine learning (ML) pattern recognition.

As companies build comfort with automation, advanced IBP systems can be set to take action based on analysis without human intervention. Consider a chain of bakeries; a system plugged into a long-range weather forecast system might detect a tropical storm that could raise the price of vanilla and automatically order extra.

Cloud-based technology such as ERP underpins all these advances. For example, PickerBots always set its sales goals monthly. But often these plans were delayed to let the executive team review and approve any changes, meaning operations was caught unawares. A tool like NetSuite Planning and Budgeting automates planning processes and centralizes company financial and operational data, so finance teams can disseminate updates quickly.

The next frontier? Expending IBP to business partners and suppliers, even customers. But first, companies need to get their own cultural and technology houses in order.

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Integrated Business Planning

For integrating functional plans, deploying business strategy, and driving business management, what is integrated business planning (ibp).

Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is a common-sense process designed for effective decision-making and led by your leadership team. True business integration means senior management can plan and manage the entire organization over a 24-36 month horizon, aligning strategic and tactical plans each month, and allocating critical resources, people, equipment, inventory, materials, time, and money; to satisfy your customers in the most profitable way.

Integrated Business Planning represents the evolution of Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) from the supply and demand balancing process developed in the early 1980s. Today it is a process that drives the alignment of all functions across an organization, models and creates readiness for alternate outcomes, drives deployment of strategy, and enhances collaboration across supply chains.

What is the difference between S&OP and IBP?

There are many differences between Sales & Operations Planning and Integrated Business Planning, but firstly it’s important to note that IBP is not a supply chain process ; it has a much broader reach. IBP is the process that connects your strategy and business plan to ensure both are delivered.

The purpose of IBP is not to drive a better forecast with which supply chain can plan. It is the process that brings focus to the deployment of your business strategy and provides a framework for effective decision-making to drive growth.

It's also much more than just a monthly meeting. IBP is a company framework to surface and solve problems and continually re-optimize plans as circumstances change. IBP enables businesses to create an aligned, cross-functional plan for the future, based upon key assumptions. These assumptions, documented and updated each month, are based on insights.

Read our white paper to learn more about what sets Integrated Business Planning apart from Sales & Operations Planning.

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Oliver Wight IBP Powered by Board is a holistic solution combining Oliver Wight's industry-leading Class A and implementation change management processes with Board software. Fully align people, processes, and technology and embed IBP and its benefits for years to come.

This offering combines IBP technology and process in one package for rapid time to value. You will benefit from Oliver Wight consulting and education + Board Intelligent Planning Platform + specialist implementation services. 

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How mature is your organization's true level of maturity in IBP?

Before embarking on any performance improvement program, it is imperative to identify your organization's true level of maturity. The Oliver Wight Maturity Model characterizes an organization as being in one of four key phases of maturity: Co-ordination, Business Process Control, Automation, or Integration. Assess your business maturity in Integrated Business Planning using our free online self-assessment tool .

Assess your business maturity

How you can benefit from Integrated Business Planning

Early identification of gaps in the business plan and strategy deployment, creating time to close them

An integrated view of performance and projection of your business over a 24-36 month horizon

Alignment of functional operating plans and financial projections with ‘one set of numbers’

Application of scenario planning and modelling to areas of your business where there may be uncertainty or impact

Increased responsiveness to uncertainties and unplanned events to minimize negative impacts and seize opportunities

Creation of transparency and clear accountability across the business/organization

Simplification of the budgeting or annual planning process

Integration of strategy deployment with operational plans

Increased employee engagement and efficiency

Growth in revenue

Reduced costs

Improved customer service

Reduced inventory

Visibility of planned product changes, future demand from sales and marketing, supply chain performance, planned supply chain capability and flexibility, plus bottom-up plans and the actions and decisions required to deliver ‘best for business' outcomes

You should consider Integrated Business Planning for your business if:

You are constantly in ‘fire-fighting’ mode

You have a misaligned management team

You are continually missing the financial plan

You are experiencing rapid growth and can no longer manage effectively using an informal process

Your budgeting process is ‘painful’

You are struggling to get on top of service issues

You cannot keep up with growth in demand

You have excessive inventory

You are experiencing excessive rework and cost

Departments or sites are working in silos

There is no ‘single source of truth’ or ‘single set of numbers’ to run the business

You feel like you never have time to look at the strategy

There is poor deployment and execution of the strategic plan

You have poor employee engagement

You feel like you are not getting a return on the effort put into your existing S&OP/IBP process

How we can help

A diagnostic assessment of your current S&OP or IBP process, including its effectiveness and identifying any performance issues

Transfer of our knowledge to your people so they can create and manage an effective IBP process

Change management – plan, monitor, and support the implementation of change and its impact on your people

Facilitate the design of an IBP process to best fit your organization and its needs

Scoping of an action plan to address issues and take advantage of the opportunities identified, including resourcing, timelines, and performance improvement expectations

Coach IBP process users as you introduce the new ways of working

Assess and validate that your IBP process has achieved a Class A level of effectiveness – firmly embedded as the ‘way you do things’ and delivering the benefits you wanted

Integrated Business Planning is a cutting edge process which creates cross-functional alignment and enables businesses to re-focus to meet the ever-changing environment. IBP generates readiness for alternative outcomes, enhances collaboration, and ultimately drives deployment of strategy in an uncertain world. The chosen process of some of the world’s most progressive and best-known organizations, IBP is a common-sense process that maximizes profit and enables leaders to manage risk with confidence.

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SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain

What is sap integrated business planning for supply chain.

Plan for a sustainable, risk-resilient future with the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain (SAP IBP) solution. Speed responsiveness and stay ahead of change with supply chain analytics, what-if simulations, alerts, and more.

Powered by SAP HANA, this cloud-based solution combines sales and operations planning (S&OP), forecasting and demand, response and supply, demand-driven replenishment, and inventory planning.

• Automated, tightly coordinated supply chain planning processes
• Advanced machine learning algorithms and planning capabilities
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Forecasting demand for the future of mobility.

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Frequently asked questions

What is SAP IBP?

The SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain (SAP IBP) solution is a cloud-based supply chain planning solution that scales to accommodate business growth and integrates with other SAP and third-party systems. It integrates key aspects of the planning process including demand, supply, inventory, and sales and operations planning (S&OP). Designed to help you streamline planning and improve performance, SAP IBP supports data-driven decision-making and simplified collaboration to increase operational efficiency. This is accomplished with help from advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and powerful optimization algorithms that enable real-time visibility, better forecasting, and faster decision-making across the entire supply chain.

Which modules are part of SAP IBP?

• Demand management: SAP IBP integrates historical data, market trends, and advanced predictive analytics so that you can generate more accurate demand forecasts.
• Response and supply planning: SAP IBP takes capacity constraints, lead times, and inventory levels into account so that you can optimize production and distribution plans and more efficiently meet customer demands.
• Inventory management: SAP IBP helps you maintain optimal inventory levels by balancing the trade-offs between carrying costs, stockouts, and service levels.
• Sales and operations planning: SAP IBP provides a unified platform for collaborative planning, allowing different departments to align on strategic goals and operational plans.
• Demand-driven replenishment: SAP IBP supports DDMRP for strategically positioning inventory buffers in the supply chain to absorb variability and uncertainty.
• Supply chain control tower: SAP IBP supports the real-time supply chain visibility and enhanced analytics you need to quickly respond to changing market conditions and customer requirements.

Who uses SAP IBP?

More than 1,000 companies worldwide use SAP IBP to streamline supply chain and planning processes. Ranging from large multinational corporations to medium-sized enterprises, these companies span a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, retail, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, automotive, aerospace, and many others. Some of the key users of SAP IBP include:

• Supply chain managers: They use SAP IBP to optimize supply chain processes, improve visibility, and monitor and control inventory levels.
• Demand planners: They use SAP IBP to forecast customer demand accurately, align supply with demand, and improve overall customer satisfaction.
• Sales and operations planners: They use SAP IBP to align sales, marketing, and operations teams to execute integrated business plans and achieve financial targets.
• Inventory managers: They use SAP IBP to optimize inventory levels, minimize carrying costs, and improve working capital efficiency.
• Executives and decision-makers: They use SAP IBP to gain insights into the overall health of the business, make data-driven decisions, and drive strategic initiatives.

Digital twins: The art of the possible in product development and beyond

Industrial companies around the world rely on digital tools to turn ideas into physical products for their customers. These tools have become increasingly more powerful, flexible, and sophisticated since the 1960s and 1970s, when computers first began replacing drawing boards in design offices. Today, product life-cycle management (PLM) has become engineers’ first language: PLM systems help companies to capture, codify, process, and communicate product knowledge across their organizations.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Mickael Brossard , Sebastien Chaigne, Jacomo Corbo, Bernhard Mühlreiter , and Jan Paul Stein, representing views from McKinsey’s Operations Practice.

Yet as engineering tools have become more capable, the demands placed upon them have also increased. Product functions are increasingly delivered through a combination of hardware and software. Sensors and communications capabilities allow products to offer more features and to respond more effectively to changing operating conditions and user requirements. Advanced, adaptable user interfaces have simplified the operation of complex and sophisticated machines.

Evolving business models are also blurring the boundaries between design and use. Customers expect the performance and functionality of products to improve during their life cycle, enabled by over-the-air software updates or the ability to unlock new features as needed. Many products operate as part of an ecosystem of related products and services. Increasingly, customers are not buying products outright, but paying for the capabilities they provide on a per-use or subscription basis.

The birth of the digital twin

These changing requirements have triggered a transformation in digital product representation and the creation of a new tool: the digital twin. Digital twins combine and build upon existing digital engineering tools, incorporating additional data sources, adding advanced simulation and analytics capabilities, and establishing links to live data generated during the product’s manufacture and use. A conventional PLM system uses one digital model to represent each variant of a product. A digital twin, by contrast, may have one model for each individual product, which is continually updated using data collected during the product’s life cycle.

The digital-twin approach can be applied to products, manufacturing processes, or even entire value chains. In this article, we will focus on their application to products, specifically to product design.

Digital twins offer multiple potential benefits for product-based companies and users. They can aid design optimization, reduce costs and time to market, and accelerate the organization’s response to new customer needs. Digital twins can also be a critical enabler of new revenue streams, such as remote maintenance and support offerings and “as a service” business models.

Based on the experience of companies that have already adopted the approach, we estimate that digital-twin technologies can drive a revenue increase of up to 10 percent, accelerate time to market by as much as 50 percent, and improve product quality by up to 25 percent. Digital-twin technology  is becoming a significant industry. Current estimates indicate that the market for digital twins in Europe alone will be around €7 billion by 2025, with an annual growth rate of 30 to 45 percent. 1 Infinium; MarketsandMarkets; MarkNTel Advisors; Meticulous Market Research; Mordor Intelligence; SBIS; Technavio, last accessed April 2020.

Digital twins in practice

Companies in many different industries are already capturing real value by applying digital twins to product development , manufacturing, and through-life support (exhibit).

An automotive OEM, for example, has used the digital-twin approach to create a concept configurator for early phase development . The start of the development process is especially challenging for complex products because the various stakeholder groups, such as sales, engineering, and finance, may have different or even contradictory product requirements. The OEM now balances these trade-offs using a digital concept configurator that allows for simultaneous evaluation of customer requirements, technical concepts, and product costs. When a technical concept within a system or subsystem of the product is changed, the implications for meeting customer requirements or product cost targets become immediately transparent.

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Using the configurator within cross-functional development teams has helped the OEM to reallocate 5 to 15 percent of a new vehicle’s material costs to the attributes that drive the most customer value. Applying the approach to select customer-facing components has allowed the company to optimize costs and customer value simultaneously, improving the contribution margin of those parts by 5 to 10 percent. As a further benefit, the configurator helped the team reduce the time taken to reach agreement on changes by 20 percent, thus accelerating time to market.

Digital twins are even being used to replicate systems in complex mission scenarios. Using this approach, one aerospace and defense player has cut the time required to develop advanced products by 30 to 40 percent. The digital twin also aids discussion with customers during the development process, helping the company validate and improve its designs.

In the consumer electronics sector, a company is using product digital twins to boost quality and supply chain resilience . It stores detailed information on the content of its products, including the exact source of individual components. In the event of quality issues during production or early failures in the field, the company can trace problems back to specific supplier facilities, then take appropriate action to prevent reoccurrence of the issue. An automotive supplier uses the same approach to trace quality deviations in its production through to the upstream supply chain, and in the process has reduced scrap by 20 percent.

Digital twins are increasingly being used to improve future product generations . An electric-vehicle (EV) manufacturer, for example, uses live data from more than 80 sensors to track energy consumption under different driving regimes and in varying weather conditions. Analysis of that data allows it to upgrade its vehicle control software, with some updates introduced into new vehicles and others delivered over the air to existing customers.

Developers of autonomous-driving systems , meanwhile, are increasingly developing their technology in virtual environments. The training and validation of algorithms in a simulated environment is safer and cheaper than real-world tests. Moreover, the ability to run numerous simulations in parallel has accelerated the testing process by more than 10,000 times. Incorporating sensor data from real-world vehicles into these tests helps companies improve the veracity of their simulations and identify blind spots in the virtual test database.

The mainstreaming of additive manufacturing

A company in the renewable-energy sector is using a digital twin to automate, accelerate, and improve the engineering of hydroelectric turbines . Using the machine learning system to evaluate the likely performance of the new designs allowed it to rate more than a million different designs in seconds rather than the hours required for conventional computational flow dynamics (CFD) analysis. The winning geometry delivers the maximum theoretical performance, significantly higher than what is achievable by conventional optimization methods. Moreover, by using machine learning, the overall end-to-end design cycle time was cut in half compared with the conventional approach.

Digital twins in three dimensions

Digital twins can take many different forms. Organizations that want to take advantage of digital-twin technologies must select an appropriate form that will enhance its technical and business objectives. The design of a digital twin can vary across three dimensions (exhibit).

The first dimension encompasses the value chain steps that the digital twin will cover. An engineering twin covers value chain steps similar to those covered by conventional PLM systems, ranging from product definition to detailed engineering. A production twin replicates a product throughout the manufacturing process, incorporating data such as the components, materials, and process parameters used, as well as the results of tests and quality checks. A service twin incorporates data collected from the product in use, such as operating modes, performance, diagnostic information, and maintenance history. The most sophisticated digital twins span multiple parts of the value chain, allowing in-service data to optimize manufacturing processes or future design iterations.

The second dimension is the scope of the digital twin. A product may consist of several major systems, multiple subsystems, and hundreds or thousands of hardware and software components. Some digital twins cover only one or several components, for example, those that simulate the flow of liquids through a pipe. Others cover a full product, for example, those that simulate a car’s crash characteristics. Given the limitations of computing power, generally, the narrower the scope of a digital twin, the more precise its virtual replica will be. In contrast, full-product digital twins often need to abstract or simplify certain product behaviors to remain manageable.

The final dimension of a digital twin is its degree of sophistication . The simplest digital twins consist of various sources of data relating to a product, often from sources that have few or no links with one another. The second level of sophistication uses traditional simulation tools to perform analyses of design performance and integrate the various sources through a PLM system or similar platform.

At the third level of sophistication, a digital twin will use predictive or prescriptive analytics, as well as machine learning technology to run automated simulation refinements and yield new insights. This allows design and manufacturing teams to make informed decisions based upon direct results and performances.

At the last level of sophistication, digital twins use predictions of component failure rates or performance variations to react to changing environments and manipulate the real-world counterpart in a closed-loop setup. This approach might be used in a condition monitoring system, for example, where sensor data and simulations are combined to make inferences and predictions about the state and behavior of a specific product, and might allow a machine to compensate for wear or variations in operating conditions by adjusting parameters in real time.

Companies in other sectors are also starting to use digital twins to derive deeper insights into customer behaviors and preferences . For example, white-goods manufacturers can use data from in-service products to identify the most and least used features. That can inform future product development decisions, such as deleting rarely used features or revising the user interface to make the features more accessible.

The adoption of digital twins is currently gaining momentum across industries, as companies aim to reap the benefits of various types of digital twins. Given the many different shapes and forms of digital twins (see sidebar, “Digital twins in three dimensions”), and the different starting points of each organization, a clear strategy is needed to help prioritize where to focus digital-twin development and what steps to take to capture the most value.

How to start and succeed on your digital-twin journey

Embarking on a digital-twin journey can look daunting at first sight, especially since the breadth and depth of use cases can span the entire corporate landscape, including product portfolio choices, business model design, R&D, manufacturing, and through-life support.

This versatility can also be a strength, however, as it allows companies to start small and expand the scope, sophistication, and value-chain coverage of their digital-twin projects over time. The experience of companies that have applied digital twins in their own product operations leads to a few simple rules that can greatly increase your odds of success.

Define your aspirations

Be aware of digital-twin best practices. Do your homework and seek out perspectives on best practices and future trends in digital-twin technology. Assess and prioritize the elements of your vision. Evaluate the potential of digital-twin-related opportunities and prioritize them into an implementation road map.

Be clear about the business case. Quantify the value offered by different digital-twin opportunities and determine the minimum level of model sophistication required to generate that value. Successful projects focus on short development times and rapid ROI.

Test the waters by prototyping select use cases. Run a series of hackathons (possibly supported by digital-twin specialists) to assess your capabilities’ baseline, develop solution prototypes, refine, and adjust the initial concepts. This step calibrates the approach and prevents you from losing time and resources by attempting an impossible plan. It is part of a broader value assurance move aimed at bringing the entire project to a successful conclusion.

Know your strengths

Perform a maturity assessment. Understand your current digital product development capabilities along six main dimensions: development methodologies, PLM governance, data strategy, business processes, system complexity, and collaboration. Understanding the areas where you are most advanced and where you are lagging behind will help prioritize areas of investment for a balanced implementation of a digital twin and its use cases.

Access to appropriate talent and capabilities can make or break a digital-twin initiative. Many organizations need to develop additional expertise in areas such as advanced simulation and modeling or data analytics for user experience design.

Plan a step-by-step, agile implementation

Invest several months in developing a minimum viable product (MVP). Incubate a cross-functional, agile team dedicated to bringing priority use cases to life and building digital capabilities in the process. The MVP is now the must-do approach to maximize value gains from the start rather than waiting until the program is finalized before experiencing the first benefits.

Perform an MVP retrospective to pivot or persevere. Derive lessons from the first MVP phase to confirm your digital-twin aspirations or pivot them based on the findings (for example, the validity of use cases, complexity of implementation, and maturity of the organization). This is the second value assurance move that enables you to further calibrate the implementation plan and revise the scope to avoid generating sunk costs.

Scale up the digital-twin initiative and accelerate ROI. Optimize and standardize implementation based on insights from the MVP phase. Define an (internal or external) recruiting and capability-building strategy. Build an operating model to enable rapid scaling of successful approaches. The most advanced organizations typically consider digital-twin technologies a core strategic capability.

By following these simple best practices, you will be able to reap the benefits of digital twins in a scalable, progressive way. Are you ready?

Mickael Brossard is a partner in McKinsey’s Paris office, where Sebastien Chaigne is an associate partner; Jacomo Corbo is a partner in the London office; Bernhard Mühlreiter is a partner in the Vienna office; and Jan Paul Stein is an associate partner in the Munich office.

The authors wish to thank Roberto Argolini, Elia Berteletti, Kimberly Borden, Akshay Desai, Hannes Erntell, Alessandro Faure Ragani, Anna Herlt, Mark Huntington, Mithun Kamat, Michele Manzo, and Alessandro Mattozzi for their contributions to this article.

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• Development Fees
• Rare Plant Mitigation Fees
• Fee Waiver Process
• Development Agreements
• Adopted General Plan Amendments
• Adopted General Plan Implementation
• Adopted General Plan Quad Maps
• General Plan Supporting Documents
• Local Land Use Plans
• Community Design Standards
• Proposed Specific Plans
• Draft Oak Woodland Management Plan August 2007
• Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO)
• Zoning Ordinance
• Zoning Ordinance and Development Standards
• Zoning Ordinances for Specific Plans

Zoning Ordinance Updates

• Zoning Administrator Archives

Historic Design Zoning Overlay

• Flood Zone Definitions
• Public Review Draft Maps

Filed CEQA Notices

• CEQA - Transportation Department
• Parcel Data Information
• Mello-Roos CFDs
• CEDHSP-DEIR
• Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR)
• Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR)
• FAQ's - Planning

Mission Statement

Guide land use and development consistent with the General Plan, Building Codes, and related regulations, by providing accurate, timely, and courteous professional and technical services to our customers, to maintain the County's unique quality of life, protect public safety and the environment and to promote economic vitality for current and future generations.

NEW PROJECT MAPPING TOOL

Projects In Your Area

General Plan Safety Element Update – Planning Commission Hearing

A Planning Commission hearing is scheduled for Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. to consider an Amendment to the County’s General Plan to incorporate the Safety Element Update. Below are links to the relevant hearing materials.

Agenda (PDF, 105KB)

Safety Element Update - Legistar Item

Single Source Solutions CCUP21-004 Video (posted 4/24/2024)

Urgency ordinance 5192 - interim moratorium on new tobacco retailer applications.

• Written Report (PDF, 178KB) pursuant to California Government Code 65858(d) published ten (10) days prior to Interim Ordinance expiration.
• Executed Urgency Ordinance 5192 (PDF, 2MB)

Planning and Building Department Quarterly Reports

• October through December 2023 (2nd Quarter FY 23/24) (PDF, 2MB)
• July through September 2023: (1st Quarter FY 23/24 (PDF, 1MB) )
• April through June 2023: (4th Quarter FY 22/23) (PDF, 3MB)
• January through March 2023 (PDF, 3MB)

Community for Health and Independence (PA23-0015)

Pre-application Materials :

• Project Narrative (PDF, 4MB)
• Maps (PDF, 393KB)
• Application (PDF, 5MB)

Updated Fee Schedule

• Ordinance 5185 Adopting Schedules of Fees and Charges for Services for Building and Planning (PDF, 3MB)
• Resolution 164-2023 Establishing Planning and Building Department Fee Policies and Procedures (PDF, 2MB)

El Dorado County Executed Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations - New

• Executed Ordinance 5165 AB 1236 (PDF, 2MB)
• EV Commercial Checklist (PDF, 177KB)
• EV Residential Checklist (PDF, 399KB)
• Plug-in Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Readiness
• California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development FAQs

Urgency Ordinance 5172, Chapter 130.69.A of the El Dorado County Code, was executed by the Board of Supervisors on January 3, 2023, addressing temporary emergency housing, resiliency, and rebuilding after the 2022 Mosquito Fire.

• Executed Ordinance 5172 Chapter 130.69.A (PDF, 340KB)

Urgency Ordinance 5163, Chapter 130.69 of the El Dorado County Code, was executed by the Board of Supervisors on August 23, 2022, amending the fee waiver eligibility criteria for permit fees charged by both the Planning and Building Department and Environmental Management Department.

• Executed Ordinance 5163, Chapter 130.69 (PDF, 562KB)

Urgency Ordinance 5150, Chapter 130.69 of the El Dorado County Code, was executed by the Board of Supervisors on September 10, 2021, addressing temporary emergency housing, resiliency, and rebuilding after the 2021 Caldor Fire.

• Executed Ordinance 5150, Chapter 130.69 (PDF, 944KB)

Writ of Mandate from the Superior Court of the State of California

Discharge of Writ of Mandate (PDF, 246KB) : On May 5, 2023, the El Dorado County Superior Court released an order discharging the Writ of Mandate allowing the County to process and approve construction and Oak Resource removal permits within the Important Biological Corridor (IBC).

Partial Stay of the Enforcement of the Judgment and Writ (PDF, 287KB) : The partial stay of the enforcement of the Judgment and Writ allows the County to process and approve construction permits which would not result in (a) removal of oak trees or (b) removal or impact to oak woodlands within the area of the mapped Important Biological Corridors (IBC) as depicted on the map attached as Exhibit A to the Writ.

Executed Writ of Mandate (PDF, 2MB) : The executed Writ of Mandate suspends approval of construction and Oak Woodland removal permits in the Highway 50 corridor, defined as the mapped Important Biological Corridors (IBC) running north to south of Highway 50.

Important Biological Corridor Map (PDF, 1MB) (Printable) (PDF, 1MB)

Important Biological Corridor Map (Interactive)

Temporary Recreational Vehicle Ordinance Code 5136

The Temporary Recreational Vehicle Ordinance (PDF, 584KB) allows for the limited use of a recreational vehicle as temporary housing for hardship purposes.

Announcements

Texas hill notice of preparation of a draft environmental impact report.

Texas Hill Notice of Preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (PDF, 6MB)

Marble Valley Specific Plan Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR)

Marble Valley Specific Plan Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) (PDF, 86MB)

Marble Valley Specific Plan Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) Appendices A-N (PDF, 114MB)

Marble Valley Specific Plan Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (PDF, 681KB)

Gateway/Carson Creek R&D Project Site

Location: Golden Foothill Pkwy and Latrobe Rd

Building Permits

• Status: ISSUED under construction.
• Permit #0361781 (Building 113) is a 78,509 square foot shell building.  
• Status: REVISION under construction
• Permit #0368469 (Building 102), is about 4,857 square foot shell building 
• Status: SUBMITTED
• Building Permit #0368470, is for(Building 103) is about 6,171 square foot shell building 
• Grading Permit #0367354 is for export grading over four (4) parcels. 
• Status: ISSUED
• Grading Permit #0369859, grading for Buildings 102, 103, and 104 
• (Building permit for Building 104 is planned, but no permit has been submitted at this time.)

Planning Entitlements

P22-0009 is an application for a Tentative Parcel Map to divide four parcels totaling 64.22 acres into fourteen parcels. No buildings or zone changes are proposed at this time within the P22-0009 project area. 

Carson Creek R-D FAQs (PDF, 145KB)

El Dorado County CA Code of Ordinances (PDF, 575KB)

Generations at Green Valley Project (General Plan Amendment GPA22-0001, Rezone Z22-0001, Tentative Subdivision Map TM22-0001, Development Agreement DA24-0001)

Notice of Preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Report and Notice of Public Scoping Meetin (PDF, 2MB) g

Generations at Green Valley NOP Scoping Meeting Presentation (PDF, 2MB)

Cameron Meadows (Tentative Subdivision Map TM23-0003)

• Notice of Preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Report and Notice of Public Scoping Meeting (PDF, 2MB)
• Cameron Meadows NOP Scoping Meeting Presentation (PDF, 704KB)

Cameron-Meadows-NOP-Scoping-Meeting-Recording_TM23-0003.mp4

*** This application was withdrawn on 1/17/2024*** Central El Dorado Hills Specific Plan (General Plan Amendment A14-0003/Specific Plan SP12-0002/Rezone Z14-0005/Specific Plan Revision SP86-0002-R-2/Planned Development PD14-0004/Tentative Subdivision Map TM14-1516/Development Agreement DA14-0003)

• Notice of Availability of a Third Partial Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report (RDEIR) (PDF, 261KB)
• Central El Dorado Hills Specific Plan RDEIR (PDF, 21MB)

Safety Element Update

A Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission Joint Workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, November 14 to begin no earlier than 1pm,  BOS Agenda 11/14/2023 . Additional Information can be found on the Safety Element Update Website. Below is the Public Draft Safety Element and associated documents for public review:

• Safety Element Cover Page (PDF, 143KB)
• Public Draft Safety Element Update (PDF, 640KB)
• Appendix A - List of Acronyms (PDF, 154KB)
• Appendix B - Background Report (PDF, 5MB)
• Appendix C - Final Draft Climate Vulnerability Assessment (PDF, 16MB)
• Appendix D - Dam Inundation Maps (PDF, 2MB)

Town and Country Village (General Plan Amendment GPA22-0003, Specific Plan Revision SP-R21-0002, Planned Development PD21-0005, Rezone Z21-0013, Tentative Map TM22-0005, Conditional Use Permit CUP23-0008)

• Notice of Preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) and Notice of Public Scoping Meeting (PDF, 5MB)

Public Review Draft Climate Vulnerability Assessment

• El Dorado CVA Public Review Flyer - May 2, 2023 (PDF, 186KB)
•   (PDF, 186KB) El Dorado CVA Public Review Press Release - May 2, 2023 (PDF, 80KB)
•   (PDF, 80KB) El Dorado CVA Public Review Draft - May 2, 2023 (PDF, 16MB)

Higginbotham Two Phase Commercial Development, Cool Gas Station (Design Review, DR22-0007)

• Application Packet, DR22-0007 (PDF, 5MB)
• Architectural Site Plan. A-1.0 (PDF, 877KB)
• Architectural Site Plan (PDF, 893KB)
• A1.1. Exterior Elevations - Carwash (PDF, 535KB)
• Hwy 49 & Georgetown Rd site plans (PDF, 8MB)
• Sign Reference (PDF, 578KB)
• DR22-0007 Vicinity Map (PDF, 168KB)

Notice of Availability of an Addendum to the Final Program Environmental Impact Report for the Targeted General Plan Amendment/Zoning Ordinance Update (OR23-0001)

• Notice of Availability of an Addendum to the Final Program Environmental Impact Report Public Review Period (FEIR) (PDF, 311KB)

Creekside Plaza Arco Gas Station (Conditional Use Permit CUP21-0004, Planned Development Revision PD-R21-0002)

• Notice of Preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Report(DEIR) and Notice of Public Scoping Meeting (PDF, 1MB)

EDH 52 Mixed Use Development (Planned Development PD15-0001/Rezone Z17-0004/Tentative Parcel Map P17-0007/Conditional Use Permit Revision CUP-R21-0024/Lot Line Adjustment LLA21-0009)

Revisions in Process as of January 2024

Notice of Preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) and Notice of Public Scoping Meeting (PDF, 2MB) , submitted 2015

• Corrected Notice of Public Scoping Meeting (PDF, 26KB)
• Notice of Direct Dial Information for Public Scoping Meeting (PDF, 209KB)

Dorado Oaks Tentative Subdivision Map Project (Rezone Z19-0005/Tentative Subdivision Map TM18-1538/Planned Development PD19-0005/Development Agreement DA20-0002)

• Dorado Oaks Tentative Subdivision Map Project DEIR (PDF, 13MB)
• Dorado Oaks Tentative Subdivision Map Project DEIR Appendices A-I (PDF, 175MB)
• Dorado Oaks Extended Review (PDF, 138KB)

Central El Dorado Hills Specific Plan (General Plan Amendment A14-0003/Specific Plan SP12-0002/Rezone Z14-0005/Specific Plan Revision SP86-0002-R/Planned Development PD14-0004/Tentative Subdivision Map TM14-1516/Development Agreement DA14-0003)

A hearing for the Planning Commission to consider the Central El Dorado Hills Specific Plan (CEDHSP) was held on April 28, 2022. At that meeting, the Planning Commission continued the hearing for this item to June 9, 2022.

The agenda for the June 9, 2022, Planning Commission meeting will be  available prior to the hearing on Legistar .

The meeting will be live-streamed via Zoom. Participation by Zoom will be available and is encouraged since seating will be limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Information for participating by Zoom will be included in the agenda when posted. Project documents are available at the link below.  Additional project documents and the hearing agenda are available in Legistar .

• View Project Information and Documents

Creekside Village Specific Plan Project (General Plan Amendment GPA20-0001/Rezone Z20-0005/Specific Plan SP20-0001/Tentative Map TM20-0002)

• Notice of Preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (PDF, 7MB)
• Zoning Ordinance – Major Amendments to Title 130 :  Ordinance No. 5127 (PDF, 11MB)  adopted by the Board of Supervisors September 1, 2020 (Effective October 1, 2020)
• Subdivisions Ordinance – Amendments to Title 120 :  Ordinance No. 5128 (PDF, 4MB)  adopted by the Board of Supervisors September 1, 2020 (Effective October 1, 2020)
• Zoning Ordinance – Update to Chapter 130.41 : (Commercial Cannabis Fingerprinting Amendment allows more discretion to the Sheriff's Office when requiring fingerprinting, for any owners having a share of 5 percent or less of a commercial cannabis business) -  Ordinance No. 5123 (PDF, 986KB)  adopted by the Board of Supervisors June 9th, 2020 (Effective July 10th, 2020)
• Zoning Ordinance – Update to Chapter 130.42 (Cultivation of Cannabis for Personal Use) :  Ordinance No. 5122 (PDF, 840KB)  adopted by the Board of Supervisors May 5th, 2020 (Effective May 5th, 2020)
• Zoning Ordinance – Update to Chapter 130.41 (Commercial Cannabis) :  Ordinance No. 5124 (PDF, 645KB)  adopted by the Board of Supervisors May 12th, 2020 (Effective June 11th, 2020)
• 2004 El Dorado County General Plan-Update to Chapter 10-Economic Development Element :  Resolution No. 216-2019 (PDF, 112KB)  adopted by the Board of Supervisors December 10, 2019
• Ordinance 5109 (Measure N-Permitting & Enforcement) (PDF, 530KB)
• Ordinance 5110 (Measures P & Q-Outdoor Uses) (PDF, 279KB)
• Ordinance 5111 (Measures R & S-Indoor Uses) (PDF, 329KB)
• Ordinance 5112 (Matrix of Allowed Uses) (PDF, 160KB)
• 08:00 AM–11:00 AM
• 01:00 PM–03:00 PM
• 09:00 AM–11:00 AM

Before 11:00am: Walk-Ins After 1:00pm: Appointments Schedule an appointment online or call 530-621-5355. We are closed daily for lunch 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM

Additional Contact

Do you need help with a permit or planning issue? Comments? Feedback? Contact the Planning and Building Services liaison .

El Dorado County Planning and Building Department Organizational Chart (PDF, 133KB)

Popular Links

Applications and Forms

Frequently Asked Questions

Assembly Bill No. 1483 and Assembly Bill No. 602

Cannabis Information

County Internet Speed Test Campaign

COVID-19 Information

Director's Interpretations

Disaster Recovery

Oak Resources

On-Call Planning Services Consultants (PDF, 383KB)  

Parcel Data  

Project Information (eTRAKiT)

Vacation Home Rental Information

Vegetation Management and Defensible Space

Zoning Ordinance (PDF, 5MB) (Amended 3/28/2024)

Municode Zoning Ordinance

Subscribe to Planning Services Updates More Information on Subscriptions

• Recognition

Integrated Business Planning

The benefits of integrated business planning in automotive.

The complex process of taking vehicles from design concept to the forecourt is based upon a multitude of decisions. To maximize profitability, suppliers, manufacturers, and dealers must drive efficiency throughout the process, and often the insight required to do this lies hidden in data.

In a previous blog we’ve explored what Integrated Business Planning is. Read on to find out how this approach, combined with business intelligence, is being used by leading automotive players to drive digital transformation, better decision-making, and greater financial returns.

What are the benefits of Integrated Business Planning for Automotive Suppliers?

Understanding the true cost of the design, manufacturing, delivery, and aftercare of automotive components is vital for ensuring efficiency throughout the process. This is impossible to achieve without a centralized view of accurate data and transparency of the impact of operations on other areas of the business.

IBP solutions overcome these challenges and create numerous benefits for automotive suppliers:

• Activities such as quality control and production management can be monitored, cross-examined against the volumes required by the vehicle manufacturer and financial results, and planned in accordance with resource availability
• A centralized view of the investment required to produce each component, including design, material, labor, and production costs, creates transparency and drives the bidding process, resulting in a fast response to tenders
• Forecasted demand for spare parts, in line with on-the-road vehicle numbers and their ages, can help to ensure the most efficient use of resources and stock levels

As a unified solution for Business Intelligence and Enterprise Performance Management, Board provides the centralization needed to achieve this integrated approach. Read our ZF case study to find out how this leading automotive supplier has created a single Management Information System business-wide, used to inform strategic and operational planning activities across all divisions.

What are the benefits of Integrated Business Planning for Automotive Manufacturers?

Carmakers and other vehicle manufacturers are no strangers to efficiency, with complex production lines requiring precise metrics and speedy execution. Each station, department, and division deals with masses of data and works to tight production schedules, with huge volumes of data stored in ERP software, but there is often lack of data visibility across the entire business.

The introduction of Integrated Business Planning processes:

• Makes it easy to understand the financial impact of operational activities by identifying the relationship between the two areas, enabling users to plan R&D projects accurately, in budget, and with the right skills and resources
• Simplifies the process of working out the true cost of vehicle production , the resulting price lists per country, and the profitability of each product line, by pulling together data from multiple sources automatically without the need to rely on spreadsheets from each department
• Enables budgeting to be standardized across each division via workflow processes, creating transparency, control, and a faster picture of the financial position of the business, together with detailed investment analysis
• Provides visibility of factors such as labor utilization and machine availability in order to match the capacity and resources required for the production of new vehicles, in a Rough-Cut Capacity Planning approach

For more insights into the benefits of IBP for automotive manufacturers , see our case study for Volkswagen Mexico , in which the Finance team have reported an increase in efficiency from 57% to 91% since standardizing activities with Board.

What are the benefits of Integrated Business Planning for Automotive Dealers?

From the Dealership perspective , everything hinges on the ability to meet sales targets. With the possibility of many showrooms and brands within larger dealership groups, this becomes a challenging process. Sales information sits in spreadsheets and is pulled together for analysis and planning by sales managers and finance teams. Integrated Business Planning ensures the profitable operation of each garage within the group by enabling business managers to:

• Keep track of new and used vehicle sales against targets in real time, across all dealerships and brands, and model the impact of promotions, discounts, and commission on results
• Standardize the budgeting and planning process with one accurate view of all data, controlled by workflows to ensure everything is completed on time
• Optimize performance by comparing repairs, customer satisfaction, and resources data to identify where improvements can be made in both operational efficiency and service delivery
• Gain clarity over servicing and repair activities , including stock levels of components, resource allocation of mechanics, and sales of parts against manufacturers’ targets
• Gain a real-time view of new car orders, used car and pre-registered vehicle stock across branches, sales commission figures, and more in a single, user-friendly dashboard

As consumer preferences shift and the automotive market becomes increasingly competitive, the need for greater visibility and control is ever more apparent. Whichever stage of the automotive supply chain you sit in, there is room for Integrated Business Planning to drive the digital transformation of processes, create greater visibility, and enable more effective decision-making to take place.

To find out more about how Board can support this process, request a demo today .

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Augmenting carmakers, suppliers and car dealers' decision-making processes

Learn more about BOARD's capabilities, which are being utilized by leading automotive organizations such as Volkswagen, Renault and ZF Group.