Florian Novac on integrated business planning, change management, and demand planning

Florin Novac - Integrated business planning: process ownership & maturity



Florin Novac - Integrated business planning: process ownership & maturity

Episode description

In this episode, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Ben⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wim⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ talk to ⁠⁠Florin Novac⁠⁠, Global IBP Deployment Manager at ⁠Nutreco⁠, who has held planning roles across major companies like GSK, P&G, Henkel, and Ansell.

Florin shares his career journey from marketing intoplanning, highlighting his passion for demand planning and his transition into integrated business planning (IBP).

We discuss the challenges of deploying IBP across Nutreco’s globally decentralized operations, the importance of aligning leadership in the process, and the evolution from S&OP to full IBP.

The conversation also covers the role of change management, assessing planning maturity, demand sensing, and the ongoing debate about where demand planning should sit within an organization. Florin also shares his thoughts on certifications, planner training, and the importance of staying externally inspired.

Key topics covered include:

  • Career path from marketing to global IBP role
  • Deploying IBP across a decentralized organization
  • Differences between S&OP and IBP
  • Demand sensing and forecasting ownership
  • How to assess planning maturity
  • Driving change and dealing with resistance
  • Training, certifications, and the importance of networking

Key timestamps:

(01:00) – Florin’s early career: from marketing inRomania to MBA at Vlerick and discovery of demand planning

(02:00) – Planning roles at GSK, P&G, and leadingplanning projects

(04:58) – Joining Nutreco and moving into global IBPdeployment

(08:10) – Standardizing IBP across a previouslydecentralized organization

(09:00) – Systems, roles, and processes before andafter IBP deployment

(10:02) – Why IBP is a business process, not just asupply chain process

(14:20) – IBF research on forecast error based onfunction ownership

(16:07) – Marketing’s role in demand planning: trendawareness and data analysis

(19:23) – Setbacks: resistance to change and fallbackto Excel

(21:00) – Change management program at Nutreco: ADCARmodel and training

(24:40) – Final advice: never settle, seekchallenges, and keep learning