A global pharmaceutical Connected Planning business case shows what happens when planning is actually connected — not just in theory, but in day-to-day decision-making.

Across large pharma organisations, I consistently see the same result when Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is implemented properly with Anaplan.  You can expect around 640% ROI, delivered through a combination of measurable outcomes:

• +1.65% revenue uplift
  
  
• 8% less waste
  
  
• 20% lower inventory
  
  
• Up to 15% lower supply chain costs
  
  
• $1.6M in IT savings

That isn’t aspirational modelling.
That’s operational reality.

Leading pharmaceutical companies such as Bayer and Johnson & Johnson are already acting on this, using Connected Planning to make faster, more confident decisions across commercial, supply chain, finance, and workforce planning.

Others are still relying on disconnected spreadsheets and static plans. They’re paying for it quietly, but materially, in lost value.

Benchmark your planning maturity and identify your ROI potential.  Complete the Profit& Financial Planning Self-Assessment.

What pharma leaders tell me before they change

I spend a lot of time inside global pharmaceutical organisations, working with senior finance, supply chain, commercial, and HR leaders. Before Connected Planning is in place, the conversations are remarkably consistent.

Finance leaders tell me:

“We spend months planning, but we still don’t fully trust the numbers.”

Supply chain leaders say:

“When demand shifts, it takes weeks to understand the downstream financial impact.”

Commercial leaders tell me:

“We hit targets on paper, but the forecast doesn’t feel real.”

HR leaders are candid:

“Our workforce plan is always a step behind the portfolio.”

These aren’t capability issues. They’re signals that the planning model itself is broken.

Plans are built carefully, approved confidently, and then reality intervenes. Market access assumptions change. Demand shifts. Supply constraints emerge. Workforce plans drift out of sync with launches and portfolio decisions. Finance ends up explaining variance instead of helping the business steer.

Organisations using Connected Planning don’t wait for surprises. They see pressure building early and act while there are still options.

That’s the difference between reactive planning and decision-led planning.

What I see change when planning becomes connected

When Connected Planning is implemented properly, the shift is immediate and visible.

• Finance teams stop acting as data brokers and start acting as decision partners.
  
  
• Supply chain teams respond faster and more effectively because they finally have financial context.
  
  
• Commercial and workforce plans stop contradicting each other.

A global pharmaceutical planning leader told me during a steering committee session: 

“For the first time, we could see demand, supply, workforce, and financial impact in one place. That changed the quality of every executive conversation.”

From that point, the outcomes follow a clear pattern.

Where the ROI shows up

Finance: faster cycles, stronger confidence

I regularly see 50–70% reductions in budgeting and forecasting cycle times. Thousands of hours move from data preparation to value-added analysis. Manual reconciliations disappear. Planning becomes continuous rather than episodic.

Forecast accuracy improves by up to 30%, and with it, executive confidence. Boards trust the numbers because they can see how assumptions connect end-to-end.

If your teams are still spending weeks reconciling spreadsheets, the self-assessment will pinpoint exactly where the friction sits.

Supply chain: inventory cost, and resilience

Disconnected demand and supply planning is one of the biggest value leaks in pharma.

Connected Planning enables double-digit reductions in excess and obsolete inventory while maintaining, and often improving, patient service levels. Manufacturing plans align to real demand signals. Expediting drops. Late surprises reduce.

That’s working capital back on the balance sheet, not tied up in buffers

Workforce planning: capacity aligned to reality

Workforce costs are often planned in isolation, despite being one of the largest cost drivers.
Connected Planning gives visibility across regions, roles, and functions, linking workforce plans directly to pipeline changes and launch timing. Leaders can model capacity scenarios before decisions are locked in, reducing over and under-resourcing.

When workforce planning is connected to sales performance and demand, the impact compounds.

Commercial and sales performance: marginal gains that scale

When demand forecasts, sales targets, and incentives are connected, performance conversations change.

Under and over-performance is identified earlier. Incentives align to achievable demand. Revenue outlooks become credible enough to act on.

In multi-billion-dollar pharma organisations, even small percentage improvements translate into very significant revenue impact — and those gains compound fast.

This is not theoretical ROI

Taken together, these outcomes consistently deliver multi-million-dollar value, often within the first 12–18 months.

One senior finance leader told me after go-live:

“The ROI wasn’t a surprise. What surprised us was how quickly it showed up.”

This isn’t a business case slide. It’s what happens when operational reality flows directly into financial decisions.

Complete the Profit& Integrated Financial Planning Self-Assessment to quantify where this value exists in your organisation today.

Why waiting now is risky

Regulators and payers are less patient. Pricing pressure is increasing. Supply chains are more volatile. Workforce costs continue to rise.

Pharma companies investing in Connected Planning are building speed, resilience, and financial advantage into their operating model. Those that don’t are accumulating inefficiency, risk, and opportunity cost — one planning cycle at a time.

The gap between these two groups is widening.

Your next step

You have two options.

Complete the Profit& Integrated Financial Planning Self-Assessment to benchmark your maturity and identify your ROI opportunity across finance, supply chain, workforce, and sales performance management.

Or, if you want to talk it through:

Contact me to discuss your challenges, priorities, and where Connected Planning could deliver the biggest impact in your organisation.

The outcomes are already proven.

The only open question is how long you’re willing to wait to realise them.