Interview
Beyond the forecast
August 31, 20261 min read
At a glance
- Planning success is measured by shortages avoided, inventory right-sized, and patients supplied, not by forecast accuracy alone.
- A single source of truth connects planning with the wider organization and its external partners.
- Scientific parameters such as stability and shelf life belong in supply decisions.
- AI will take on monitoring and analysis, while people keep the judgment calls.
In an interview published by BSMA, Peter Bigelow, Co-founder and CEO of SCmple, spoke with Devendra Mishra, Executive Director and Co-founder of BSMA, about how pharmaceutical supply chain planning needs to move beyond the forecast.
The objective is not simply to create another forecast.
What the conversation covers
- Beyond spreadsheets
- Why spreadsheets make it easy to miss ordering signals, and how a cloud platform keeps their flexibility while adding shared reports and visibility.
- Measuring success
- Planning success means avoiding shortages, preventing unnecessary inventory, reducing working capital, and protecting patient supply, not forecast accuracy alone.
- Breaking down silos
- How a single source of truth can connect planning with regulatory, quality, financial, and inventory processes.
- Science as a planning variable
- Bringing stability, temperature sensitivity, shelf life, and CMC changes into planning by SKU and material.
- Planning beyond the enterprise
- Visibility across suppliers, CDMOs, 3PLs, and clinical systems, so decisions are made before issues become disruptions.
- Clinical to commercial
- Shared principles, different realities, and the transition between the two.
- AI and the planner
- The AI capabilities SCmple is developing, including conversational scenario planning and intelligent plan monitoring, and why judgment stays with people.
The need for human interpretation, priority-setting, and decision-making will not go away.
