Why does branch-level planning matter more than network-level planning for a distributor with a field sales structure?

When a distributor sells through reps, supervisors and regional branches, each branch typically has its own customer mix, its own promotional calendar and its own demand pattern. A network-level forecast that gets split proportionally across branches assumes every branch is a smaller version of the average, which is rarely true. Branch-level planning lets each location's replenishment reflect its own actual signal, including its own exposure to whatever promotion is currently running there, which is what keeps one branch from running short while another sits on excess stock of the same product.