How is "What-If Analysis" conducted in SAP IBP?

The process of conducting "What-If Analysis" in SAP IBP focuses on changing input variables to assess potential impacts on various planning scenarios. This approach allows users to evaluate different business strategies or market conditions by tweaking key assumptions, such as demand forecasts, production capacities, or inventory levels. Through this analysis, planners can understand how these variations affect the overall supply chain, enabling better-informed decision-making.

By manipulating these input variables, users can observe the resultant changes in metrics like costs, service levels, or stock availability, which ultimately aids in strategic planning and risk management. This flexibility in modeling different scenarios is a core capability of SAP IBP, empowering organizations to proactively adjust to uncertainties in their operating environment.

Maintaining consistent data inputs, following standard planning procedures, and reviewing completed reports are vital aspects of the planning and reporting processes in SAP IBP but do not directly contribute to the exploratory nature of What-If Analysis, which is fundamentally about assessing the effects of variable changes.