Q&A: Patrick Rigoni’s 2021 Supply Chain Recap

The last 12 months have tested supply chain managers’ resilience and tenacity. With an ongoing pandemic that’s sent consumers and suppliers spiraling in and out of panic mode, it’s never been more important to utilize Demand Driven methodology. Patrick Rigoni has spent the last year championing this innovative approach to supply chain management by sharing it with others in the industry. For many companies around the world, DDMRP is what’s made the difference. It’s the tool that’s allowed them to weather this last year–  not only surviving, but thriving. 

Throughout 2021, Patrick disseminated his knowledge of Demand Driven across multiple platforms and formats. This allowed him to reach a wider audience than ever, sharing his expertise as a Demand Driven Institute DDP and DDL Master Instructor. In the spring, Patrick led a webinar that touched on a timely topic: long-range planning and risk management using Demand Driven. The webinar, “How Does DDMRP Work in the Strategic Planning Horizon?” focused on Demand Driven for profit maximization and sales & operations planning, and within it Patrick shared real-life case studies.

Patrick also continued to maintain his focus on experiential learning and teambuilding, offering DDBrix workshops to bring critical concepts to life. Participants in his DDBrix day-long retreats had the opportunity to simulate each step of the supply chain using Legos, all while integrating best practices of Demand Driven planning. Educating supply chain professionals is a cornerstone of Patrick’s work as a consultant, which is why he collaborated with multiple industry leaders in 2021 to spread his knowledge. In July, he was a guest speaker on the VCARE Academy podcast, discussing supply chain agility and value delivery. Separately this year, Patrick teamed up with Advance Operation Management School on a whitepaper snapshot, “How Demand Driven MRP improves corporate performance in terms of Service, Inventory, and Lead Time.”

Another highlight of 2021 was the publication of an exclusive guide on the year’s industry trends. In it, Patrick distills the most influential innovations to hit the supply chain in recent months. The premium resource is available as a free downloadable PDF on his website.

We sat down with Patrick to process the events of the last year and making predictions for the next one, with an eye on Demand Driven: 

Question: Can you share with us your thoughts on the year that was for the company for 2021 and the supply chain industry in general? What were the important achievements this year for the company and for the supply chain industry?

Rigoni: This was a year of transition. We are seeing an increasing number of companies getting interested in the Demand Driven methodology, which is getting more and more visibility due to an increased number of interesting case studies. 

The volatility brought to the markets by COVID is impacting an increasing number of companies and many are beginning to look skeptically at the traditional approaches that use heavy-handed technical solutions: there is only so much forecast accuracy that can be improved and brute-force computing can’t really solve synchronization issues in the supply chains. Companies are striving for simpler and effective solutions and DDMRP is one of these.

Question: What is your forecast for the year ahead in 2022 for the supply chain and industry?

Rigoni: Things will not be going better and the industry will face shortages and increase in raw material prices that will ultimately impact the prices of finished products. We will see inflation soaring everywhere. 

The cost of energy is likely to increase as well. The transition to fully renewable energy can only be successful with the implementation of short and long term energy buffers. Short-term to deal with the daily day-night cycle; long-term to deal with the yearly summer-winter cycle. Putting solar panels on every roof is totally useless without those buffers in place. That would be a very interesting application of DDMRP buffers. 

In general, I expect an increasing number of companies starting to adopt Demand Driven as a way to address the challenges ahead.

Question: What are the future plans of Patrick Rigoni for the year 2022 ? Do we see more DDBRIX Training workshops being done in other parts of Europe or do we see other supply chain training workshops and whitepapers in the pipeline from Patrick Rigoni?

Rigoni: I expect the number of requests for trainings in the form of Demand Driven Planner and DDBrix workshops to increase. We are seeing the interest in the methodology growing in Italy and Switzerland as well. We will increase our focus on the Swiss market, which I believe has a huge potential for consolidating its industrial leadership with the adoption of Demand Driven.

Ready to take your supply chain to the next level? Make sure you get on Patrick Rigoni’s calendar in the new year. Book a consultation with this Demand Driven expert to ensure you hit all your targets in 2022.