Pondering Absurdity: Building Yet Another Supply Chain Planning System

Five years ago, the idea of building yet another supply chain planning system would have sounded downright absurd—a Sisyphean exercise in futility, pushing the same old boulder up the hill, only to watch it roll back down, over and over again.  

The absurdity of it all wasn’t lost on us. In fact, it inspired us to take a radically different approach. Instead of reimagining the same tired tools with new labels, we had a spark of insight—an idea shaped by decades of wrestling with, implementing, and enduring the limitations of traditional planning systems. Through hundreds of implementations, we pretty clearly experienced the cracks in the foundation. The outdated assumptions. The rigid, hard-coded parameters. The sheer inefficiency of legacy architectures to if you’re lucky run a manually created scenario, one by one. It was clear that something new—something fundamentally different, bold and adaptive was desperately needed.

So, we embraced the absurdity and built a system that’s fundamentally and architecturally different for the better. A better way to solve the continuously evolving and dynamic supply chain math problem for businesses of all sizes. A system that doesn’t cling to static parameters or outdated logic. Instead, it tests, tunes, and evolves autonomously to seek out and meet the chaos head-on. It thrives in disruption, turning dynamic conditions into opportunities to better match supply to demand—or demand to supply, in some cases.

What Defines Supply Chain Success?

Supply chain survival is more than just filling orders. It’s about balancing OTIF (on-time in full), optimizing spend, maximizing capacity utilization, and minimizing excess—all while navigating disruptions through a multi-level set of supply chain steps. With ketteQ, our PolymatiQ™ solver runs thousands of scenarios in parallel to anticipate outcomes, mapping the shape of your supply chain over time under real-world conditions—before they happen.

Built for a Hyper-Connected World

Traditional planning systems are like navigating with a paper map in a world of GPS, and real-time traffic updates and dynamic rerouting. Legacy planning systems were designed for a simpler time, assuming the past predicts the future. But the reality is hard-coded parameters and rigid assumptions baked into the software at the time of implementation become stale the moment you go live.

Take a sudden 25% tariff on imports from China. A legacy system might suggest shifting production to Vietnam, but it wouldn’t consider ripple effects like port congestion, fluctuating lead times, or efficient capacity utilization. ketteQ’s adaptive planning doesn’t just find the best statistical forecast; it dynamically adjusts supply chain parameters based on current and perceived events and conditions.

What-If Scenarios on Steroids

Modern supply chains demand more than a Plan B. You need Plans C, D, and Z—evaluated and ready to execute in minutes, not weeks. ketteQ breaks your supply chain into smaller components, runs parallel simulations, and reassembles the results.

Imagine a sudden labor spike in Mexico after moving 30% of production there. ketteQ’s system quickly evaluates alternatives and delivers actionable insights—automatically.

The Game-Changing Impact of AI and Machine Learning

Five years ago, running a handful of scenarios required endless manual effort. Today, our system processes thousands automatically, learning from your supply chain’s unique patterns. It’s like playing chess while seeing hundreds of possible outcomes at once.

Need a report or new perspective? Simply ask. Our dynamic reporting and text-to-action capabilities eliminate the back-and-forth with IT, delivering insights instantly.

From Reactive to Proactive

The real power of adaptive planning isn’t just reacting faster—it’s spotting opportunities and risks before they materialize.

One of our customers in the consumer goods industry faced chaos from looming port closures. With traditional tools, identifying risks would’ve been a fire drill of spreadsheets and sleepless nights. Instead, ketteQ’s system autonomously generated a backup plan months ahead, turning panic into proactive preparation.  

Another customer, a high-tech B2B giant, struggled with demand forecasting amidst complex external factors. Using ketteQ, they analyzed hundreds of indicators with varying time lags. The system uncovered correlations no one had considered, like a four-month lag between economic indicators and specific product lines.

Was It Absurdity Personified? Far From It.

ketteQ’s explosive success answers the question definitively: building another supply chain planning system was not a fool’s errand—it was a necessary leap forward. The growing list of companies making the strategic decision to switch to ketteQ for supply chain planning is compelling evidence. From industry giants like Coca-Cola, Johnson Controls, NCR Voyix, Carrier, and Trimble to mid-market leaders like Cosmetica Labs, Bonide, The Greenery, PartsTown, and MobilityWorks, the proof points are undeniable.  

These organizations, spanning diverse industries and challenges, have recognized the value of moving beyond outdated legacy systems to embrace adaptive planning powered by ketteQ.

By reimagining how supply chains operate—through AI, machine learning, and our revolutionary PolymatiQ™ solver—we’ve delivered a solution that not only keeps pace with today’s demands but also anticipates tomorrow’s uncertainties. ketteQ’s ability to empower organizations with faster, smarter, and more resilient decision-making is transforming the industry.

What seemed absurd to some five years ago has now become the new standard. ketteQ is not just meeting the moment; it’s defining the future of supply chain planning. The overwhelming response from our customers proves that betting on innovation, no matter how daunting, is far from folly—it’s the key to thriving in a hyper-connected, ever-changing world.

So, was building ketteQ absurd? Not at all. It was the bold move the industry desperately needed. And as the momentum grows, the results speak for themselves: ketteQ is transforming the way the world plans.

‍