Building Planning Teams That Actually Work Together
Supply chain planning teams often struggle with fragmentation—demand planners working in isolation from inventory teams, procurement disconnected from logistics. Cristina Carvallo, senior director analyst at Gartner, is tackling this common pain point with practical guidance on building truly collaborative planning operations.
Carvallo's framework centers on uniting all elements of the planning function rather than letting teams operate in silos. For 3PL operators juggling multiple client accounts and complex warehouse operations, this collaborative approach directly impacts service quality and operational efficiency.
The challenge hits particularly hard in the fulfillment world, where planning teams need to coordinate across inventory management, labor scheduling, transportation, and client-specific requirements. When these elements work in isolation, the result is typically missed delivery windows, inventory imbalances, and frustrated clients.
While the specific implementation details weren't elaborated in the brief overview, Gartner's focus on organizational structure and cross-functional collaboration reflects a broader industry shift. Modern 3PLs increasingly recognize that technology alone won't solve planning problems—the human coordination layer matters just as much as the software stack.
