Supply Chain Demand Planning Cartoon: Sales vs. Operations

The Scenario: In this supply chain demand planning cartoon, we witness the classic cross-functional "pivot" during a crisis.

As the Sales Head presents a plummeting pipeline graph, the room’s leadership immediately shifts the focus—not to sales performance, but to the necessity of the demand and production planning teams.

It captures the dry, often brutal irony of S&OP meetings where the teams responsible for managing the fallout of bad sales are suddenly blamed for the lack of demand itself.

The Observation: This narrative identifies the "Displacement of Accountability"

inherent in many logistics-heavy organizations.

At Kaapi with Ravi, we observe that when the numbers go south, the planning department is often treated as a luxury rather than a necessity.

This post serves as a critical entry in our supply chain cartoons cluster, focusing on the specific tension of demand forecasting. It highlights the uncomfortable truth that while Sales may own the pipeline, Operations is frequently forced to own the blame for its emptiness.

 Demand planning: The art of being blamed for not predicting a disaster that the Sales team didn't even see coming until they hit the ground.

Explore more from Kaapi with Ravi

• Series: Supply Chain Cartoons 

  
  

• Theme: Departmental Cartoons