Five questions to ask before you change how you order

Replenishment October 2026 · 5 min read

In short

Start by measuring where your planners' time really goes.
Good automation shows people the unusual cases and handles the rest.
Agree success measures before you begin.

Changing how a company orders is a big decision. Done well, it frees planners from repetitive work. Done badly, it adds a new tool to the pile. These five questions help you decide whether you're ready, and what to ask any supplier of planning software — including us.

1. Where does the time go today?

Write down what your planners do in a week. If most of it is building and copying orders, there is a lot to gain. If most of it is negotiating with suppliers, the gain is elsewhere. Be honest: the answer often surprises the planners themselves.

2. Which decisions need a human?

Good ordering automation handles the ordinary cases and shows people the unusual ones. Ask how the system decides what's unusual, and whether you can change that. A system that flags everything is as useless as one that flags nothing.

3. Can you see why an order was proposed?

If planners can't understand a proposal, they won't trust it, and they'll rebuild it by hand. Look for clear reasons behind every suggestion — recent sales, current stock, what's on order, upcoming promotions.

4. What happens to your existing systems?

A planning tool should work alongside your ERP and data, not replace them. Ask what data it needs, how often, and how orders go back to your systems. Ask what happens when the data is wrong — good systems check before they plan.

5. How will you know it's working?

Agree a few measures before you start — product availability, waste, planner time, and the share of orders approved without changes — so you can tell whether it helped. Measure the same things before and after.

A word on rollout

Start with one supplier group or one category. Let planners compare proposals with what they would have ordered. Trust builds when people see the system make sensible suggestions they didn't have to build themselves. Then widen the scope step by step.