Why Supply Chain Planning Still Breaks Even with Advanced Forecasting Tools

A supply chain planning team reviews its dashboard on a Monday morning. Forecast accuracy looks strong. Demand models are updated. Inventory targets are aligned with the plan. Yet by midweek, urgent expediting requests appear, stockouts emerge in critical locations, and excess inventory quietly piles up elsewhere. This is not a failure of forecasting software. It is a failure of how planning actually works in the real world.