Telenco already ran a recent ERP. Why add a planning tool?

Because a recent ERP does not produce better replenishment decisions, it executes more cleanly the ones it is given. An ERP and a planning tool work on different layers: the ERP records transactions, planning decides what to do next.

Telenco had run Dynamics 365 for years and still rebuilt its plan in Excel every month, because the ERP showed the orders already placed and never where inventory was heading. That is the gap the planning layer filled, without replacing anything.

A planning layer reads a small, stable set of tables and reconnects to a new system at cutover, which is a few days of configuration rather than a second implementation. Waiting for an ERP program to finish usually means giving up 12 to 24 months of better decisions. We set out that reasoning in our analysis of which comes first, ERP migration or supply chain planning.