9.3.5—Operations planning

Operations planning translates demand and strategy into schedules, capacity, materials, people, quality checks and contingencies.

Planning must account for lead times, bottlenecks, uncertainty and dependencies. A feasible plan is more than a date list; it explains how resources will meet the promise.

A campaign forecast should trigger an inventory, staffing and delivery plan; if a supplier lead time exceeds the launch date, marketing alone cannot fix the gap.

A plan based on one optimistic forecast can fail even when every task is neatly scheduled.