Anaplan (Supply Chain)

Anaplan is a cloud-native connected planning platform whose supply chain applications span demand planning, supply planning, sales and operations planning (S&OP) / integrated business planning (IBP), production planning, retail planning, and sourcing and procurement. It is ERP-agnostic by design: rather than replacing the system of record, it sits alongside ERP, CRM, and external data sources to build a shared, real-time planning model that supply chain, finance, sales, and operations teams work in together.

The platform is built on Anaplan's proprietary Hyperblock in-memory calculation engine, which combines spreadsheet-style cell flexibility with the scale of a multidimensional OLAP database. This lets large numbers of users collaborate on a single model and see the downstream impact of a change — a demand spike, a supplier delay, a capacity constraint — recalculated in real time rather than waiting for an overnight batch. Forecasting is handled through an integrated AI/ML forecasting workbench with statistical baselines, best-fit algorithm selection, outlier correction, and demand sensing that monitors near-term signals.

Anaplan positions its supply chain footprint around scenario planning and what-if modeling: planners can model alternative plans, compare them, and pivot from periodic reviews to continuous response. The vendor ships packaged supply chain applications (for example a Demand Planning app and a Supply Planning app) with embedded best-practice process flows, alongside the flexibility for organizations to extend or build their own models. Anaplan was acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo in 2022.