Planning 2.0 at REWE Group: Identifying Potential for Efficiency and Optimizing Planning Processes

In a highly dynamic and competitive environment, retail companies are facing tremendous challenges. Not only in sales but also in management accounting, business processes have to be highly flexible in order to guarantee short reaction times. Due to the high degree of complexity in dealing with different countries, languages, and cultures, these challenges are even greater for internationally operating companies. As in other industries, the retailing business also has long-lasting planning cycles that often lead to a high planning effort and tie up numerous resources. Plans lacking the necessary flexibility and planning values that are outdated when finally approved are the result. Being an international company in the food sector, the REWE Group also faces challenges concerning various and highly competitive markets within a dynamic retailing industry. It is for this reason that REWE has decided to initiate a comprehensive program improving processes in controlling and establishing a sustainable management control. One pillar of this program focuses on planning processes and overall planning. A holistic, flexible, and lean planning solution is meant to result in more efficient planning processes and to increase the quality of planning sustainably. While being separated in two phases, the program begins with the definition of a rough concept of the new planning solution. The second phase focuses on detailing the concept and implementing the defined processes as well as a new planning software.