534: Move From Excel Chaos to Agile, Data-Driven Planning, with Colibri S&OP

Alexia Vitali of Colibri S&OP talks about what they do; why most mid‑market companies still run on Excel; & making planning simple, collaborative & impactful. IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: [03.55] An introduction to Alexia and her journey moving from Europe to Canada to build Colibri's American presence. "It's a bit like building a company inside a company… so the beginning was just about listening to planners and supply chain teams." [06.37] An overview of Colibri S&OP – who they are, what they do, and how they help their customers – and what makes them different. "Our co-founders were used to implementing solutions like Colibri, but they were so tired of long implementations and never-ending projects..." [10.19] The ideal customer for Colibri S&OP. "It's not really the size that matters – it's the mindset." [11.41] The biggest macro and micro challenges Colibri regularly see with their customers in 2026, and how their technology helps address these issues. "We're seeing market volatility, margin pressure, supplier disruptions, and shorter decision cycles." [16.17] What ROI looks like for Colibri customers, and why it goes deeper than simply cost savings. [18.51] With 80% of mid‑market companies still running their S&OP on Excel, why businesses need to make a change, and Excel's key limitations. "Excel is great! It's flexible, familiar. But it's great for what it was built for – and planning isn't what it was built for." [22.53] Despite the challenges with Excel, why most of that 80% think they're 'not ready' for a planning tool, and the common misconceptions and fears Colibri often see around the alternatives, from failure to security. "A lot of times people are traumatized by previous ERP implementations that went wrong!!" [26.43] How Colibri are leveraging simulation to help organizations build better supply chain strategies and understand their business-wide impacts. [29.58] A closer look at Colibri's supply and demand planning solutions – how they work, what teams can do with them, and what they look like versus Excel. [33.38] How Colibri solutions can make people's jobs simpler and more collaborative, and drive impactful results at a business level. "Everyone is working better together, but also better by themselves." [37.52] Why AI is changing supply chain planning, but not in the way many people expected. [40.10] A case study exploring how Colibri helped a cosmetics brand still using Excel, despite an international network and high complexity, reduce time spent on planning from 3 days to 3 hours, improve accuracy and service levels, and streamline processes. [44.00] Alexia's final words of advice   RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED: Head over to Colibri S&OP's website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with Colibri S&OP and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn or YouTube, or you can connect with Alexia on LinkedIn. Check out our other podcasts HERE.