When we first started to talk to people about the need for Response Management solutions a couple of years ago, the common refrain was that “we have planning.” I think people had been conditioned to think that solid planning was the only thing necessary to ensure great execution.

But over the years, I think more and more people are coming to the realization that you can’t plan your way out of all problems. In fact, increasingly, there are a host of problems you just can’t plan your way out of. Increasingly volatile demand, shortening product lifecycles and the globalization of supply chains have meant more changes are popping up every day. And many of these unexpected events are high enough in business risk and complexity that they require human judgment to determine the appropriate tradeoffs and course corrections to make.

This situation happens all of the time in our daily lives, so it’s not surprising that it should be happening within the context of manufacturing and supply chains. Take today’s modern, most sophisticated airplanes. They are pretty much run by computers and every aspect of their trip is meticulously planned out in advance. Yet, you would never think of not having a pilot on board. That’s because there are a variety of problems that could creep up that you can’t plan your way out of – they are high in complexity and risk and require human judgment to figure out the right tradeoffs and course corrections to make given the circumstances.

It’s no different in today’s supply networks. Having a solid plan in place is critical to the long-term viability of the company, but increasingly it’s your ability to respond to the unexpected quickly and accurately that’s going to determine your position in the market.

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