Autumn 2026 Meeting

Test Before You Commit

How do you validate the diagnosis and stress-test the investment case before you commit capital, credibility and organisational energy to solving the wrong problem?

Oct 28, 2026 8:30
—
17:00
BST
·
Central London, UK
Register interest
For senior practitioners only
How this meeting works
  • Practitioner-led working session
  • No pitches
  • Small-group, facilitated discussion
  • Works best when you can engage actively
  • Chatham House Rule
  • Limited places to preserve quality

Why this meeting exists

Many supply chain leaders are facing a familiar pressure: service levels are under strain, inventory is absorbing cost it shouldn't, and the organisation is asking whether it's time to invest in improving planning capability.

The problem is rarely a shortage of options. It's confidence in the diagnosis. Whether the root cause is process, data, tools, organisational structure or some combination, committing to the wrong answer is expensive — not just financially, but in credibility and momentum.

This meeting exists for leaders who want to stress-test their thinking before they commit. Not to be told what to do, but to pressure-test the problem framing, the business case and the sequencing with peers who have been through similar decisions.

To see what a BestPractice.Club in-person meeting looks like in practice, you can view the Spring 2026 Meeting page.

What you'll leave with

  • Greater confidence that you have correctly diagnosed what is actually limiting planning performance.
  • A clearer sense of whether your current investment framing will hold up to scrutiny from finance and the board.
  • Practical perspective on sequencing: what to address first, what to delay, and what to avoid.
  • Peer insight from leaders who have made similar decisions — what worked, what didn't, and what they wish they had tested earlier.

Plenary / panel themes

These whole-room sessions focus on the shared operating context — including common innovation blockers and enablers — that shape everyone’s decisions. Their purpose is to establish a common frame of reference, so that the roundtable discussions can focus on specific capability and decision areas with less ambiguity.

Potential

Operating model and network design: the strategic context for capability investment

Capability investment decisions don't happen in isolation. The planning operating model, the network footprint and the broader organisational design all shape what kind of investment is appropriate, what it can realistically deliver, and in what sequence. This session examines the strategic context that should sit upstream of any capability investment decision.

  • How to assess whether current performance constraints reflect capability gaps or operating model limitations that capability investment alone won't resolve
  • When network design, organisational structure or governance changes need to precede or accompany a planning capability investment
  • How sustained volatility and disruption are changing what a resilient operating model actually needs to look like
  • Framing the right level of ambition: what the operating model needs to enable, and what that implies for sequencing and investment priorities
LED by:
To be confirmed.

Diagnosing the real problem before investing

Potential

When planning performance deteriorates under sustained pressure, the instinct is often to reach for a solution before the problem is fully understood. This session examines how to separate root causes from symptoms, and why mis-sequenced investment so often follows a correct observation about the wrong constraint.

  • How to distinguish between process, data, tools, capability and structural root causes when symptoms overlap
  • Why the most visible performance gap is rarely the most important one to address first
  • What a rigorous diagnostic process looks like in practice, and how to conduct one without triggering premature solution conversations
  • How to build internal alignment around a diagnosis before any investment option enters the room
LED by:
To be confirmed.

Building and defending the investment case

Potential

A planning investment case that fails to survive contact with finance usually reflects a problem with how it was constructed, not how it was presented. This session examines what a credible, scrutiny-resistant investment case actually requires — and how to build one that holds up through a multi-year programme.

  • What finance and the board actually need to say yes, and keep saying yes as the programme evolves
  • Why overstating the case creates long-term problems, and how to build a conservative case that still gets approved
  • The living business case: treating a multi-year transformation as a series of revisable commitments rather than a single financial decision
  • How to use ROI discipline as a design tool rather than a validation exercise
  • What needs to be true organisationally before a planning investment is likely to deliver measurable impact
LED by:
To be confirmed.

What good looks like in practice: peer review of real decisions

Potential

The most useful perspective on a planning investment decision often comes from someone who has already made one. This session creates space for practitioners to share real experiences — what they got right, what they got wrong, and what they would do differently — in a format designed for candid exchange rather than polished retrospective.

  • Structured peer review of real investment decisions: the context, the logic, the outcome
  • What the warning signs looked like in hindsight, and whether they were visible at the time
  • How decisions were framed for the board versus how they were understood internally
  • Where pilots and phased approaches reduced risk — and where they created false confidence
LED by:
To be confirmed.

Navigating the decision under pressure

Potential

Investment decisions in planning capability rarely happen in ideal conditions. There is usually time pressure, incomplete information, internal disagreement about the diagnosis, and a CFO who wants a number before the analysis is ready. This session addresses how to move forward confidently when the conditions for a clean decision don't exist.

  • How to sequence stakeholder alignment when there is no consensus on the problem, let alone the solution
  • Making confident build vs buy vs partner vs wait decisions under real budget and bandwidth constraints
  • How to structure governance that enables fast learning without creating false accountability
  • When to commit and when to create an explicit decision point rather than drifting toward a default
LED by:
To be confirmed.

Roundtable discussions

Roundtable discussions run in parallel for 60 minutes at set points during the day (09.50, 12.00 and 14.20), following whole-room sessions that establish shared context. Each roundtable focuses on a specific decision area or challenge and is facilitated to support practical, peer-level exchange rather than passive presentations.

The themes below reflect areas currently being explored based on participant interest and ongoing discussions. Final roundtable topics are confirmed as discussion hosts and participant interest become clearer.

*indicates that this theme is currently under consideration

*

Network design for resilience & agility

  • Map critical nodes and vulnerabilities, then expand into multi-scenario simulations that balance cost, service, and sustainability.
  • Build modular digital twins that plug into existing planning systems and evolve into adaptive, continuously optimised networks.
  • Reinforce resilience through selective redesigns that deliver measurable savings and fund further agility.
Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
CO-Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
*

Organisational design of the planning function

  • How the structure of the planning function itself enables or constrains capability investment
  • When to centralise versus decentralise planning roles, and what that means for investment sequencing
  • How to design governance and decision rights so that new capability is actually used rather than worked around
  • What good looks like in terms of planning team composition, reporting lines and cross-functional interfaces
  • How organisational readiness across people, roles and accountability affects what kind of investment is appropriate
Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
CO-Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
*

AI readiness in planning: what needs to be true before the investment makes sense

  • What data and integration conditions actually need to be true before AI investment in planning makes sense
  • How to assess your current data foundation honestly: what is good enough, what needs work, and what is blocking progress
  • The difference between data readiness for reporting, for planning and for machine learning, and why they require different things
  • How to sequence data and integration investment so it compounds rather than creates new bottlenecks
  • Where organisations commonly overestimate readiness and what the consequences look like in practice
Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
CO-Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
*

Making the business case for planning technology investment

  • How to frame a planning technology investment case in terms a CFO will find credible, not just a supply chain leader
  • Total cost of ownership: what is routinely underestimated and how to build a defensible number
  • How to structure the build vs buy vs partner vs wait decision so it holds up under scrutiny
  • Vendor selection as a financial and strategic decision, not just a functional one
  • How to avoid the trap of building a business case around a vendor's ROI model rather than your own operating context
Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
CO-Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
*

Digital skills & capability building

  • Provide targeted digital literacy and hands-on experience through short, role-based learning.
  • Develop citizen automation and analytics communities using low-code and AI-assisted tools.
  • Foster a culture of continuous learning and experimentation where human–machine collaboration becomes the engine of innovation.
Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
CO-Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
*

Cost-to-serve transparency & dynamic scenario modelling

  • Build initial visibility into major cost drivers, expanding toward integrated dashboards uniting finance, logistics, and commercial data.
  • Use modular analytics to reveal true product, customer, and channel profitability, driving cross-functional alignment.
  • Progress to dynamic scenario modelling that informs design of profitable, sustainable, and resilient service portfolios.
Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
CO-Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
*

Data orchestration & integration

  • Connect essential systems through lightweight integrations before moving to event-driven, API-based architectures.
  • Build reusable connectors that enable real-time data flow across legacy and cloud environments.
  • Evolve into a composable data fabric where every new capability plugs in seamlessly, fuelling innovation without re-platforming.
Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
CO-Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
*

Working capital as a strategic lever, not just a constraint

  • Build confidence in inventory and buffer decisions when demand, supply, and cost signals are unstable
  • Translate working-capital pressure into operating-model choices rather than reactive cost cutting
  • Make explicit the trade-offs between service, cash, and resilience in day-to-day planning decisions
  • Stress-test assumptions embedded in current inventory policies before scaling or investing further
  • Create decision hygiene between supply chain and finance without slowing operational momentum
Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
CO-Hosted by:
To be confirmed.

Focused 1:1 conversations

Alongside group discussions, each in-person meeting includes time for structured 1-to-1 conversations. These are not open networking slots or random introductions.

Ahead of the meeting, participants share a short context profile covering the decisions they are currently working through, their operating environment, and where they are seeking clarity. This allows us to suggest 1-to-1 conversations between participants who are grappling with similar questions, even if their organisations or industries differ.

The aim of these conversations is to go deeper than is possible in group sessions — comparing how decisions are being framed, what trade-offs are being considered, and what has or hasn’t worked in practice.

Best Practice Leaders

Our session leaders are selected for their direct experience of tackling the challenges addressed in this meeting. They participate fully as peers in the room and remain engaged throughout the discussions, sharing practical experience and lessons learned from real decisions.

Keynotes, Panellists & Invited Experts

To be confirmed.

Discussion Hosts

To be confirmed.

Discussion Co-Hosts

To be confirmed.

How the day works

The day is designed to balance shared context with focused peer discussion, with time built in for informal exchange and follow-up conversations.

Arrival & informal coffee

Settle in, meet other participants, and establish the context for the day.

Whole-room context setting

Shared discussion exploring the operating context, including common innovation blockers and enablers shaping current decisions.

Parallel roundtable discussions

Focused peer discussion around specific decision areas, with groups re-forming across the day to explore different perspectives.

Focused 1:1 exchanges

Time built in throughout the day to follow up conversations, explore overlaps, and connect around shared challenges.

Reflection and next steps

A closing discussion to surface insights, identify areas for follow-up, and explore how ideas move forward beyond the room.

Who this meeting is for

This meeting is designed for people working through real operational and innovation decisions, rather than those seeking presentations or general inspiration.

Who for

This meeting is for you if:

  • You are accountable for planning performance and are considering whether a significant investment in capability, process or technology is the right next step.
  • You are uncertain whether you have correctly identified the root cause of current performance constraints.
  • You are building or preparing to defend an investment case and want to stress-test it before it goes to the board or CFO.
  • You want peer challenge from practitioners who have navigated similar decisions, not presentations or vendor perspectives.

Who not for

This format may not be a good fit if your primary objective or organisational context looks very different:

  • You are primarily looking to pitch products or services
  • You are seeking a traditional conference with formal presentations
  • You are not in a position to engage openly with peers
  • You are attending mainly to gather leads or contacts

This meeting may also be less useful if:

  • You are looking for a ready-made solution rather than working through a decision
  • Your organisation has extensive internal transformation capability and you are primarily seeking implementation support rather than peer sense-making
  • You are attending mainly to validate an already-decided course of action rather than to test and refine thinking

What happens next

Participation is confirmed through a short, staged process designed to ensure a good fit and a productive discussion for everyone in the room.

Step 1: Register interest

Start by registering your interest. This includes a short set of questions to help us understand the decisions on your radar and help shape the final agenda.

Step 2: Confirming fit

We review each request to confirm that the meeting is a good fit, based on role, context, and the focus of the discussion. If it is, we'll confirm your place by email.

Step 3: Shaping the discussion

In advance of the meeting, we may invite you to indicate which discussion areas are most relevant to you and to share any specific questions or challenges you'd like to explore. This helps us finalise the agenda and prepare the sessions so they reflect what participants are actually working through.

Step 4: Final confirmation and preparation

Once the agenda is confirmed, we'll ask you to reconfirm your participation and provide a little more context. This step helps us balance the groups and ensure the discussions are as useful as possible.

Step 5: Your personalised agenda

Ahead of the day, you'll receive a personalised agenda showing which sessions are most relevant to your situation and suggested one-to-one conversations, along with visibility of who else will be attending.

At each stage, we aim to keep the process lightweight and transparent, while protecting the quality of the discussion for everyone involved.

Register interest
For senior practitioners only

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