In the logistics industry, precision and timing are crucial for profitability. Discover how Connected Planning can revolutionise logistics operations.
In logistics, timing isn’t just everything—it’s profitability. When a customer hits "buy now", a complex web of operations springs into action: collection, sorting, long-haul transport, more sorting, then last-mile delivery. Every component needs to be in the right place, at the right time, at the right cost.
In a sector that doesn’t have the luxury of stock buffers or idle capacity, precision is essential. Traditional planning tools like Excel simply can’t keep up. This is where Connected Planning—and platforms like Anaplan—become indispensable.
Parcel delivery companies are under enormous pressure: inflation, labour shortages, seasonal spikes, rising service expectations, and tighter margins. Excel cannot cope with the granularity and scale of operational planning.
Excel also lacks:
Real-time integration of data across markets and functions.
Scenario modelling to make rapid trade-offs or optimisations between cost, capacity, and service.
The ability to foster collaboration across Sales, Finance, Ops, and HR with one version of the truth.
With Excel, disconnected markets and business units are locked into slow, error-prone, reactive planning cycles. In an excel world the best you can hope for (if there are no errors etc.) is out of date data, because the world moves so fast.
Connected Planning links commercial forecasts, operational capacity, financial performance, and workforce models into a single dynamic ecosystem.
It enables parcel businesses to:
Optimise resources in real-time.
Plan workforce mix (permanent vs. temporary) more accurately.
Ensure cross-functional decisions align to one strategy: profitable growth.
Respond rapidly to new opportunities or disruptions.
Through Connected Planning, logistics companies can shift from reactive to proactive management - driving smarter logistics operations that align with business goals. But what does this look like in a real logistics company?
A leading e-commerce logistics provider operating across Poland, the UK, France, Italy, Iberia, and beyond faced classic growth pains: rapid international expansion, growing volumes, and fragmented planning.
Finance teams were mired in spreadsheets. Monthly group reporting was slow, siloed, and heavily manual. Volume and revenue plans across markets didn’t reconcile. Version control was a nightmare. Every planning cycle consumed valuable time with low strategic return.
Enter Anaplan - and a clear Connected Planning roadmap.
With support from Profit&, the company launched Anaplan to standardise and streamline:
Group Management Reporting – mapping local accounts to group P&L automatically, removing manual effort.
Volume & Revenue Planning – creating real-time, reconciled forecasts across sending and receiving countries.
Data Transparency – ensuring every market could see and trust the numbers.
The result? Planning cycles shrank from 6 weeks to near real-time. Errors dropped and teams began focusing on insight, not reconciliation.
In the subsequent phase, the focus was on building the ecosystem further, integrating more functions and refining processes to enhance overall efficiency and drive strategic growth.
The roadmap didn’t end with reporting and forecasting. The company continued expanding its Connected Planning capabilities to:
Link volume plans directly to cost and revenue models for clear P&L impact.
Enable “what-if” scenarios to test the ROI of network investments and new partnerships.
Strengthen accountability with ownership of parcel flow forecasts across regions.
Gain visibility into cross-border vs. domestic profitability and different delivery segments.
Now, group-level strategic decisions are grounded in accurate, up-to-date data - and business units collaborate rather than negotiate numbers.
Plans are already underway to extend Connected Planning even further by:
Integrating recently acquired businesses into the Anaplan ecosystem.
Connecting sales forecasting directly to financial reporting for dynamic links between revenue, cash flow, and the balance sheet.
Optimising parcel routing and workforce allocation across all operating regions.
Introducing fair, data-driven IT cost allocation across markets.
This is Connected Planning in action - not a one-off transformation, but a continuous journey towards better decisions, faster execution, and scalable growth.
Parcel delivery businesses don’t win by holding more stock - they win by executing flawlessly. That requires planning tools that are:
Real-time
Cross-functional
Data-driven
Scalable
Connected Planning makes this possible. It transforms planning from a reactive task into a strategic, competitive advantage.
Imagine your sales team negotiating a major delivery contract with a retailer. With Connected Planning, you can instantly:
Model resource needs and costs across your entire network.
Test hub expansion or fleet investment scenarios.
Align Sales, Operations, Finance, and HR around one shared truth.
No more spreadsheet firefighting. No more siloed strategies. Just profitable growth, powered by connected insight.
Connected Planning isn’t just about planning better - it’s about operating smarter.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. What planning challenges are you facing in your logistics business? Has Connected Planning helped you move beyond spreadsheets - or are you still navigating the same bottlenecks? Let us know in the comments.
If you'd like to explore connected planning further, we can help you map a clear, value-driven roadmap. Get in touch - or explore how we're helping transport and logistics businesses transform planning here.