o9 Solutions Supply Chain Planning Training Course

Course overview

Supply chain teams often have planning data spread across ERP extracts, spreadsheets, supplier updates and separate demand files. This makes it difficult to see which constraints are driving shortages, determine whether a demand change requires a supply response, or present planners and executives with one defensible plan. The o9 Solutions Supply Chain Planning Training Course equips participants to use the o9 Digital Brain platform to connect demand, inventory, capacity and supply decisions in a governed planning process. It focuses on the practical work required to move from exceptions and scenarios to approved actions.

Participants learn how o9 planning models are structured, how demand signals and master data flow through planning processes, and how to navigate workspaces, views, dimensions and measures. They build and interpret supply plans, configure planning assumptions, analyse constrained versus unconstrained supply, and use what-if scenarios to assess capacity, inventory and service trade-offs. The course also covers alerts, exception management, collaboration workflows, planning dashboards and management-ready outputs. By the end of the week, participants can explain the logic behind an o9 plan rather than simply report its numbers.

Delivery combines instructor demonstrations with guided work in an o9 training environment, using a realistic multi-site manufacturer case. Participants investigate demand volatility, supplier disruption and capacity bottlenecks; revise planning inputs; run scenarios; and document a recommended response. They leave with a completed supply planning scenario pack containing assumptions, exception analysis, scenario comparisons, proposed planner actions and a stakeholder communication summary that can be adapted for their own planning cycle.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Navigate o9 workspaces, dimensions, measures and hierarchical planning views
• Configure demand, inventory, capacity and lead-time assumptions for a supply planning model
• Create constrained and unconstrained supply plans using o9 Supply Planning
• Analyse supply-demand imbalances through alerts, exception views and root-cause drill-downs
• Build what-if scenarios to compare sourcing, capacity, inventory and service trade-offs
• Interpret planner workbenches and dashboards to identify priority actions by product and location
• Prepare a documented supply planning recommendation with assumptions, risks and escalation actions
• Translate o9 planning outputs into an S&OP or executive review decision narrative

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Supply Chain Planners — who need to create and defend feasible supply responses to changing demand
• Demand Planners — who must understand how forecast changes affect inventory, capacity and customer service
• Materials and Production Planners — who balance component availability, manufacturing constraints and replenishment priorities
• S&OP or IBP Managers — who require consistent scenario evidence for cross-functional planning decisions
• Supply Chain Analysts — who build planning reports and need to turn o9 data into actionable exceptions
• Supply Chain Transformation Leads — who support o9 adoption and must standardise planning ways of working

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have working experience in supply chain planning, including demand plans, inventory policy, lead times, capacity constraints, bills of material or distribution replenishment. Familiarity with S&OP or IBP terminology and confidence reading planning data in Excel are expected. Prior access to o9 Solutions is useful but not mandatory; the course introduces the relevant navigation and planning features from first principles. Participants do not need programming, data-science, database administration or o9 model-builder experience. This is not a beginner supply chain fundamentals course, so attendees should already understand the operational consequences of shortages, excess inventory and constrained capacity.

Training methodology

The course is delivered through instructor-led explanation, live o9 demonstrations and guided exercises in a structured training tenant. Each day uses a connected manufacturing case, so participants see how a forecast update becomes a supply imbalance, an exception, a scenario and a management decision. Small-group workshops require participants to compare plan alternatives and justify recommendations using service, inventory and capacity evidence. The final session is an application-planning workshop in which each participant completes a supply planning scenario pack and identifies where the method fits within their own planning calendar.

Course outline

Day 1: o9 planning foundations and model navigation

• o9 Digital Brain platform architecture and planning process flow
• Workspace navigation, pages, views and planning workbenches
• Dimensions, hierarchies, measures and time-bucket logic
• Master data relationships across product, location, customer and supplier
• Demand, supply, inventory and capacity data model connections
• Version management, planning cycles and data refresh concepts
• Role-based access, collaboration tasks and planning governance

Workshop: Participants navigate a training model and produce a planning model map identifying the measures and hierarchies needed to investigate a product-location issue.

Day 2: demand signals, inventory policy and supply plan creation

• Demand plan inputs, forecast versions and demand sensing outputs
• Inventory measures including on-hand, in-transit, safety stock and projected inventory
• Lead times, order calendars, lot sizes and minimum order quantities
• Supply source priorities, allocation rules and sourcing constraints
• Unconstrained supply plan generation and interpretation
• Constrained supply plan logic for material and capacity limitations
• Plan comparison across baseline, working and approved versions

Workshop: Participants generate baseline and constrained supply plans for a multi-site product portfolio and produce a gap summary by week and location.

Day 3: exception management and root-cause analysis

• Alert configuration concepts and exception threshold design
• Shortage, excess inventory, late supply and capacity alert categories
• Drill-down analysis from aggregate dashboard to product-location detail
• Root-cause tracing across demand, supply, inventory and capacity measures
• Prioritisation using revenue, service risk, margin and customer criticality
• Planner workbench filters, pivots and saved analytical views
• Exception ownership, workflow assignment and escalation rules

Workshop: Participants investigate a shortage alert queue and produce a prioritised exception log with root causes, owners and required escalation dates.

Day 4: what-if scenarios and integrated trade-off decisions

• Scenario creation, copying and assumption control in o9
• Demand upside and downside scenario modelling
• Supplier delay, alternate-source and lead-time change scenarios
• Capacity expansion, overtime and production reallocation options
• Inventory deployment and inter-location transfer alternatives
• Service, cost, inventory and capacity trade-off comparison
• Scenario approval criteria and decision audit trail

Workshop: Teams model a supplier disruption and produce a scenario comparison recommending the preferred sourcing, capacity and inventory response.

Day 5: planning communication and operational application

• Dashboard design for planner, manager and executive audiences
• KPI interpretation for service, inventory, backlog and capacity utilisation
• S&OP and IBP meeting inputs from o9 supply planning outputs
• Decision narratives linking assumptions, risks and recommended actions
• Data quality checks for planning measures and master data exceptions
• Planning cadence, hand-offs and accountability across functions
• Personal adoption roadmap for applying o9 methods on the job

Workshop: Participants complete and present a supply planning scenario pack containing dashboard evidence, exception analysis, scenario results and an implementation action plan.

Tools & standards covered

o9 Digital Brain Platform, o9 Supply Planning, o9 Demand Planning, Microsoft Excel

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions