Sales expects a busy quarter. Purchasing sees longer lead times. The warehouse is out of some items and overstocked on others. And finance wants to know why capital is tied up in stock that isn't moving again.
The problem is rarely a single bad decision. It's a series of decisions that don't add up to a coherent picture.
Sales sees the market. Purchasing sees the suppliers. The warehouse sees the stock. Finance sees the capital tied up in it. And supply chain is left holding the responsibility for making it all work in practice.
That's where demand planning becomes important. Not as a heavy planning exercise that requires large teams and advanced systems from day one, but as a practical way to close the gap between what customers actually want, what sales expects demand to be, and what supply chain has to deliver.
For most companies, the real problem isn't poor planning. It's too many decisions made on too little insight into what customers will actually demand.