Does an automated planning tool eliminate planner jobs?

In the projects we run, that is not what Supply Chain leaders are after, and it is not what we see happen. The reason is structural: supply teams are already understaffed for the workload they carry, and much of that workload is low-value work nobody wants to keep. Automation absorbs it and frees up time for topics that were handled by default, or not at all. At SupplyCaddy, a fast-growing company, the co-founder describes a capacity effect rather than a replacement effect: the platform does the work of three or four people without the need to hire them.

The role shifts toward supervision, parameter tuning and external relationships. That shift does require explicit support, though: a buyer does not become a performance manager because they were handed a tool, but because their manager sat down with them and redefined what the role is expected to deliver.