Event Speakers
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Grant Hoffman, CPF
Grant Hoffman, CPF
Poly

Executive Vice President, Chief Supply Chain Officer

Grant Hoffman is Poly’s Executive Vice President, Chief Supply Chain Officer, responsible for Poly’s global supply chain and manufacturing. Hoffman is a 24-year veteran of supply chain with experience in consumer electronics, automotive, and consumer packaged goods. He was most recently VP and Head of Supply Chain for Lenovo’s Mobile Phone business unit. Prior to joining Lenovo, Grant held positions of increasing responsibility at Motorola, Google, Continental Automotive Group and Del Monte Foods. Grant holds an undergraduate degree in business and an MBA from Northern Illinois University. Hoffman serves on the Board of Advisors at the Institute of Business Forecasting (IBF), and as an advisor to both the University of Wisconsin Erdman Center for Operations Management and Northern Illinois University's Operations Management department. He is an IBF Certified Professional Forecaster (CPF).

Tim Hotze
Tim Hotze
Target

SVP Enterprise Capacity Planning

Tim leads the newly created Enterprise Capacity Planning Team at Target, reporting into the COO. Prior to this he served for five years as SVP, Network Planning, Global Intelligence and Last Mile where he oversaw Target’s Supply Chain intelligence products and applications as well as end-to-end strategic and operational functions for Network and Topology Planning. Before joining Target in 2017, Tim held a number of leadership roles at Amazon covering Supply Chain Execution, Capacity Planning and Management, Inventory Placement and Labor Planning. He also spent more than a decade at Panalpina World Transport where he had responsibility for worldwide logistics and supply chain solutions. Tim sits on the Advisory Board for the Institute of Business Forecasting and Planning (IBF) and is a former Executive Director of The Warehouse Education and Research Council. Tim holds a Master’s degree in Electrical and Industrial Engineering as well as a degree in Logistics and Supply Chain from the University of Technology in Darmstadt, Germany.

Patrick Bower
Patrick Bower
Actylis

Sr. Director of Supply Chain

Patrick Bower has a wide area of expertise, including S&OP, Demand Planning, Inventory, Network Optimization, and Production Scheduling. A recognized expert on demand planning and S&OP, and a self-professed “S&OP geek” - Patrick was previously Practice Manager of Supply Chain Planning at the consulting firm, Plan4Demand where his client list included Diageo, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Foster Farms, Cabot Industries and American Girl. Patrick’s experience encompasses tenures with Cadbury, Kraft Foods, Unisys, and Snapple. Patrick also worked for the supply chain software company - Numetrix, and was Vice President of R&D at Atrion International. He was also the recipient of IBF’s 2012 award for Excellence in Business Forecasting & Planning.

Dr. Chaman L. Jain
Dr. Chaman L. Jain
St. John's University

Professor of Economics
Dr. Jain is Professor of Economics at St. John's University based in New York USA, where he mainly teaches a graduate course on business forecasting. He is also Chief Editor of the IBF's Journal of Business Forecasting. He has written over 100 articles, mostly in the area of forecasting and planning, and has authored/co-authored/edited nine books, seven in the area of forecasting and planning. His new book, "Fundamentals of Demand Planning and Forecasting," is the basis of IBF's body of knowledge. In a consulting capacity, he has worked for Brown and Williamson, Hewlett Packard, Union Fidelity Life Insurance Company, Prince Manufacturing, CECO Doors, Taylor Made Golf and Bilgore Groves. He has conducted workshops on business forecasting and planning for various organizations including Sweetheart Cup, Eastman Kodak, Jockey International, SABIC, Saudi Aramco, DU-Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co. -Dubai UAE, and Symbios Consulting Group-Egypt, Goody-Saudi Arabia, Al-Nahdi Medical. He has made presentations on business forecasting and planning at IBF conferences / workshops, Council of Supply Chain Management, Informs, DMDNY in New York, John Galt Solutions and SAS. He has been invited by various institutions to speak on business forecasting & planning including University Technology Malaysia, Malaysia, School of Future Studies & Planning, Devi Ahilya University, India, and Apeejay Svran Institute of Management, India. He is the recipient of 1994 award of the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation for his best paper.
Misty Eldridge
Misty Eldridge
GE Appliances

Sr. DT Manager, Planning and Fulfillment Systems

Misty is the Senior DT Manager, Planning and Fulfillment Systems for GE Appliances. She leads the digital team supporting planning and fulfillment systems across the organization. Prior to joining GE Appliances in 2022, Misty held several leadership roles in multiple industries ranging from food and packaging to CPG companies. She has a wide area of expertise including S&OP, Demand Planning, Inventory, and Supply Planning. She has been a driver of process improvements and leading digital transformations. Misty holds a degree from the University of Illinois. In 2022, she received the Excellence in Business Forecasting & Planning award from IBF.

Azeem Ahmad
Azeem Ahmad
Dell Technologies

Global Product Manager, Business Transformation Office
Azeem is a Business Planning and Operations leader with extensive cross-functional experience in strategic demand planning, financial modeling, and competitive analysis. He has been with Dell Inc. in various leadership roles having worked as Analytics Manager, Finance Controller, and Demand Planning Manager. Azeem is currently responsible for the demand planning function within Dell's North America Consumer Business. He has also lead various business transformation initiatives at Dell, having streamlining and optimized the demand planning (S&OP), forecasting and operations processes.
James Bleyer
James Bleyer
Kitchen Cabinet Distributors

Director of Planning & Procurement
With over 20 years of experience in the demand planning and supply chain fields, James Bleyer has built and grown world-class teams with organizations such as Philips Consumer Lifestyles, Benjamin Moore Pain, and Tempur-Sealy. He has led turn-around initiatives in many organizations and implemented formal demand planning and supply chain teams in others. He is currently Director of Planning and Procurement at Kitchen Cabinet Distributors, James is a graduate of the State University of New York – Rockland.
Vanessa Charbel
Vanessa Charbel
Nufarm

Global Supply Chain Head
Vanessa is a supply chain professional with 15 years’ experience leading projects and improvements across planning, supply, demand, procurement, PMO, S&OP/IBP. She started her career as an S&OP specialist at Johnson & Johnson in Brazil, before moving into a supply chain management role. Then she took a role as Senior S&OP/IBP Manager at Mars before becoming a Supply Chain Manager at Nufarm. Vanessa is now Global Head of Supply Chain Planning at Nufarm where she is responsible for all aspects of demand, supply, and inventory planning. She holds a bachelor’s in international business from FAAP in Brazil, and an MBA from FGV, also in Brazil.
Natalie Christian, CPF
Natalie Christian, CPF
Amerock LLC

Leader of Customer Care and Solutions

Natalie began her career in Supply Chain when Supply Chain wasn’t cool. Throughout her career she has helped build S&OP processes from the ground up for several companies. She currently leads the Customer Care and Solutions team at Amerock Hardware, a position she assumed after working as a Senior Demand Planner. Prior to Amerock, she worked in several S&OP and CPFR roles at companies including Spectrum Brands, Nexergy and The Hillman Group. She earned her Lean Sigma Blackbelt certification in 1998 and became an IBF Certified Professional Forecaster (CPF) in 2019.

Eric Wilson, ACPF
Eric Wilson, ACPF
Institute of Business Forecasting & Planning

Director – Thought Leadership
Eric is a predictive analytics and business planning innovator, author, and speaker. He is the Director of Thought Leadership at the IBF. Prior to this he worked as the Director of Demand Planning at Escalade Sports, Director of Demand Planning at Berry Plastics, and Director of Demand Planning & S&OP at Tempur Sealy International. In 2016, he received the Excellence in Business Forecasting & Planning award from the IBF. He is an IBF Advanced Certified Professional Forecaster (ACPF) with over 20 years of experience. Eric is a visionary in his field, a frequent speaker and panelist for many executive forums and professional conferences, and has written numerous articles in publications such as The Journal of Business Forecasting and APICS Magazine. He is also the author of the books Cultural Cycles and Predictive Analytics for Business Forecasting & Planning.
Debbie Climer
Debbie Climer
Cummins Inc.

Director of Integrated Business Planning

Debbie has spent more than 20 years working in a variety of roles in manufacturing and quality across different business units at Cummins Inc. For the last 8 years, she has led Integrated Business Planning across the enterprise, responsible for deployment, assessment, education and improvements across all business segments. Debbie previously led the IBP process in the Engine business segment facilitating both the MBR and IR steps of the process. Prior to Cummins, she was an officer in the US Navy. Debbie holds a degree in Business Administration from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and an MBA from Ball State University.

Carlos Madruga, ACPF
Carlos Madruga, ACPF
Mars, Inc.

Global Capability Director

Carlos is currently Global Capability Director at Mars, Inc. He leads transformational initiatives in the Enterprise Planning and S&OP spaces for Pet Nutrition, Mars Wrigley, Food and Multi Sales segments. He is also the global process owner for Demand Planning and leader of a global community of practice. Prior to Mars, Carlos worked for IBM and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. He has been published in the Journal of Business Forecasting, is an IBF Advanced Certified Professional Forecaster (ACPF) and was a speaker at the 2021 IBF Best Practices Conference. Carlos holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business and a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil.

Jonathon Karelse
Jonathon Karelse
NorthFind Management

CEO

Jonathon is a recognized thought leader in demand planning and S&OP and is CEO and co-founder of the consultancy NorthFind Management. Jonathon has been a long-term contributor to the IBF’s body of knowledge, with a specific focus on forecasting metrics, decision making, and behavioral science. Jonathon is the author of an Amazon #1 Best Seller for his book, “Histories of the Future: Milestones in the Last 100 Years of Business Forecasting”. He is a graduate of the MIT Sloan School of Management, a member of the 2019 Management Excellence cohort at Harvard Business School and is a member of the Harvard Business Review’s Advisory Council.

Michael Lavaglio
Michael Lavaglio
Dexcom

Director, Supply Chain Planning
Mike is the Director of Supply Planning at Dexcom, a medical device manufacturer based in San Diego, whose main product is a continuous glucose monitor to help with diabetes care. He is responsible for leading the S&OP process, Master Production Scheduling, and MRP system implementation. Prior to Dexcom, Mike spent 3 years at Stone Brewing Company managing their S&OP process and leading the Supply Chain department, including the Planning, Procurement, and Warehousing functions. Other career highlights include a couple of years at a medical device start-up and 7 years at Abbott Laboratories (formally Guidant) in various Supply Chain and supplier quality functions. Mike graduated with a degree in Biochemistry from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and holds APICS, CPSC, and Six Sigma Green Belt certifications.
Ioana Mazare
Ioana Mazare
TTX Company

Director Economic Planning
Ioana Mazare has over 15 years of experience in the logistics industry. Her current role is Director of Economic Planning at TTX where she leads economic research and analysis. She is responsible for monitoring global economic conditions to produce econometric forecasts for North American intermodal rail loadings. Her prior experience includes over 10 years of economic and financial analysis and forecasting with UPS and Roadie Inc, where she developed a passion for using advanced analytics and machine learning in forecasting models as well as translating technical work into strategic business plans. Ioana holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Western Michigan University.
Steven Hainey, CPSM, CPIM, CPF, MCIPS, C.P.M.
Steven Hainey, CPSM, CPIM, CPF, MCIPS, C.P.M.
Beckway

Senior Operating Director - IBP/S&OP/SIOP, Supply Chain & Operations
Steve specializes in implementing new S&OP/IBP processes and advancing existing ones for a variety of Fortune 500 Companies, Private Equity (PE) held corporations, and multi-billion-dollar family-run organizations. Within his current role as Senior Operating Director at Beckway Group, Steve works with the Beckway’s Trailblazer Team to advance IBP/S&OP and Supply Chain & Operations processes. Over the last 2 decades, Steve has led senior leadership positions at Newell Brands, Honeywell, Ashley Furniture and more. Steve is an IBF Certified Professional Forecaster (CPF) since 2014.
Muhammad Zaman
Muhammad Zaman
Hasbro

Vice President, Planning and Analytics, Americas and Pacific
Muhammad has 20-plus years' experience in supply chain management with core expertise in global supply chain transformation within the disciplines of demand, supply, allocation planning, and analytics. He holds subject matter expertise in forecast accuracy improvement, fill rate improvement, inventory optimization, systems implementation, consumer-facing analytics and insights. Having worked at Continental, Hasbro, American Apparel and more, Muhamad has led transformations at billion dollar companies through supply chain overhaul with a focus on people, process, and tools.
Matt Rose
Matt Rose
H&H Group - Solid Gold Pet

Director of Sales and Operations Planning

Matt Rose is a Sales and Operations Planning professional, specializing in small and mid-sized companies. He is currently the Director of S&OP for H&H Group, North America where he is responsible for all demand planning, supply planning, and inventory optimization. Prior to working at H&H Group, Matt worked for Anheuser-Busch, Boeing, and United Van Lines in various roles. He is also the founder of Ladue Consulting, which helps small and medium sized companies create and improve their S&OP processes. He earned his Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Missouri, St. Louis.

Jody Rogers
Jody Rogers
Charles River Laboratories

Sr. Director - Global Supply Chain & Integration
Jody has been leading supply chains and S&OP processes for over 20 years, covering all aspects of Supply Chain Planning and execution. For several years she has been leading Charles Rivers' end-to-end Integrated Business Planning and orchestrating their global supply response. Jody's previous experience covers Demand Planning, CPFR, Production Planning, Inventory Optimization and Logistics in the Automotive, Consumer Packaging, and now Pharmaceutical and Biologics industries. She serves on the APICS Charleston Chapter board, is certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM), is a Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), and is pursuing IBF Certified Professional Forecaster (CPF) designation. Jody holds a degree in Management and Communication and a Master in Business Administration.
Kristie Bane, ACPF
Kristie Bane, ACPF
Reveal USA

Associate Partner, Thought Leader
Kristie Bane is an Associate Partner at Reveal.  She has over 20 years of practical integrated supply chain management experience across a variety of industries from fashion, retail and entertainment to consumer-packaged goods manufacturing and automotive accessories.  She specializes in organizational change management, decision support solutions, and integrated business planning processes for supply chains of all shapes and sizes. Kristie is an IBF Advanced Certified Professional Forecaster (ACPF), certified DDLP/DDPP and certified SAP Solutions Practitioner for supply chain management.
Noah Knapp, CPF
Noah Knapp, CPF
Trinchero Family Estates

Director of Demand Planning and Master Data Administration
Noah is currently the Director of Demand Planning and Master Data Administration at Trinchero Family Estates. He has experience working for multiple CPG companies such as Post Foods, Premier Nutrition, and Delicato Family Vineyards. He holds an MBA from the University of New Haven, a BA in History from Stonehill College, and is currently studying for a Masters in Data Science from Northwestern University. Noah is a Certified Professional Forecaster (CPF).
Andrew D. Schneider, ACPF
Andrew D. Schneider, ACPF
Viega LLC

Head of Demand Planning & Analytics

Andrew Schneider is a veteran supply chain and business science professional, with a 20 year career spanning journalism, sales, demand planning, analytics, emerging data sciences, strategy, and enterprise risk management. He is a thought leader for the IBF and a member of the esteemed advisory board, an ASCM award-winning fellow & certification holder, and an always-hungry learner of & contributor to the business planning field. He has vast experience across leadership & practitioner roles in CPG, Footwear & Apparel, Food & Beverage, and Medical Device sectors, along with systems implementation, COE deployment, and full supply chain transformation experience. Andrew is presently employed in a supply chain management role with Viega LLC, but also maintains his consultancy practice and is always available to network, consult, and serve. He is an IBF Advanced Certified Professional Forecaster (ACPF).

Nathan Goldstein
Nathan Goldstein
Wolters Kluwer

Associate Director, Field Sales
Nathan Goldstein is a seasoned supply chain professional with more than 20 years of experience leading global transformation initiatives across multiple sectors. He is well-versed in the use of advanced analytical techniques, including predictive and prescriptive analytics. These techniques support a range of planning functions including demand planning, multi-echelon inventory optimization, procurement, and production planning.
Jason Breault
Jason Breault
LifeWork Search

Managing Director
Mr. Breault is the Managing Director of LifeWork Search, a Management Recruiting firm. Jason has worked with leading soft goods, hard goods, and food and beverage companies—ranging in size from $50 million to $20 billion—to identify top talent in areas like demand planning, supply planning, operations planning, production planning, and S&OP. He is a board member of the New England chapter of IBF. He has also spoken at several APICS and IBF events and appeared in several SupplyChainBrain.com videos on the subject of Talent Management. Jason spent more than five years at AMR Research in Boston (now Gartner), a leading research and advisory organization focusing on the supply chain best practices and applications being leveraged to help cut costs and increase revenues.
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BUSINESS PLANNING, FORECASTING & S&OP: BEST PRACTICES CONFERENCE
w/ Leadership Forum & Forecasting & Planning Tutorial
Orlando, Florida, USA
October 19 – 22, 2021
Why Attend?
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    Best Practices Conference

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    Leadership Forum

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    IBF Member Tutorial

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Reserve Your Space Without Obligation

IBF’s Business Planning, Forecasting & S&OP: Best Practices conference is our flagship event of the year.

SESSION TRACKS

ESSENTIAL — NEXT-LEVEL

  • Join the largest gathering of global professionals from well-known brands, representing all industries with S&OP/ IBP, Demand Planning, Supply Chain, Forecasting, and Analytics/ Data Science responsibilities
  • Meet other professionals from Sales, Marketing, Finance, HR, Executive Management, and other key functions in the S&OP/ IBP process
  • Learn how to bring change to your organization for better S&OP and operations planning
  • Truly learn how to reach Integrated Business Planning (IBP) at your company
  • Bring your organization to best-in-class levels in performance through better business planning & forecasting
  • Learn step-by-step from lessons learned and case studies shared by well-known global companies
  • Get instant feedback on your specific challenges and truly network during our Round-Robin Round-Table Discussions
  • Enjoy further networking during our after conference cocktail reception
  • Take advantage before or after the conference of our exceptional location in the heart of Disney World and Orlando
  • All this and more
See What our Participants are Saying
Event Speakers
Show all Speakers
Grant Hoffman, CPF
Poly
Executive Vice President, Chief Supply Chain Officer
Tim Hotze
Target
SVP Enterprise Capacity Planning
Patrick Bower
Actylis
Sr. Director of Supply Chain
Conference Schedule
Download Schedule (PDF, ~2mb)
  • Tutorial
    Oct 19, 2021
  • Leadership Forum
    Oct 20, 2021
  • Conference Day 1
    Oct 21, 2021
  • Conference Day 2
    Oct 22, 2021
  • Exam Day
    Oct 23, 2021
IBF Members Only – Exams will be offered on October 23, 2021
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
TUTORIAL REGISTRATION
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
1-DAY FUNDAMENTALS OF DEMAND PLANNING & FORECASTING TUTORIAL (IBF MEMBERS ONLY– FREE)
ROLE OF FORECASTING IN THE ORGANIZATION
· Benefits and its impact on supply chain, management decisions, financial plans
· Responsibilities/Accountability
· Consensus development and management support
· Relationship to other decision and planning processes
· Cross-function participation and involvement
· Data Cleansing
· Data identification and definition
· Structure of time series data
· Data collection and analysis
· Identifying and adjusting for anomalies

HOW TO FORECAST WITH TIMES SERIES MODELS – THE MOST WIDELY USED METHOD OF FORECASTING
· Importance of pattern identification
· Time series model development
· When to use time series models
· Advantages and disadvantages of time series
· Event adjustments and when to use
· Underlying assumptions
· Widely used time series methods – averages, naïve model, exponential smoothing, decomposition, trend, seasonal, and other time series methods

2:45 PM AFTERNOON BREAK

OTHER FORECASTING MODELS AND APPLICATIONS
· An Overview of Regression Analysis for Scenario Planning and What-if Analysis
· Application in estimating effects of promotions, pricing, advertising, and other program actions
· New Product Forecasting
· Overview of Quantitative and Qualitative forecasting methods
· Demand sensing

SALES & OPERATIONS PLANNING (INTERNAL & EXTERNAL COLLABORATION)
· Overview of the S&OP process and why it is important
· Fundamental process building blocks
· Review meetings overview, timing and participants
· Meeting Inputs/Outputs
· Maintaining the S&OP process with Management organizational changes
· Roles, who is supposed to do what and how?
· Proven implementation steps and keys to success
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
EARLY LEADERSHIP FORUM REGISTRATION
Pricing
Onsite Rate
(Expires in 0 days 0 hours)
SILVER PACKAGE
$1,799

Member’s discount: -$100

GOLD PACKAGE
$1,949
PLATINUM PACKAGE
$2,399

Member’s discount: -$100

DIAMOND PACKAGE
$2,549
4TH FREE - DIAMOND GROUP
(4 PERSONS FOR PRICE OF 3)
$7,647
DIAMOND CERTIFY PACKAGE (CPF)
$3,774
DIAMOND PACKAGE GROUP
(2 PERSONS)
$4,998
PLATINUM GROUP PACKAGE
(2 PERSONS)
$4,698
Leadership Forum Only
$1,499

Member’s discount: -$100

Leadership Forum Only Group
(2 PERSONS)
$2,948
LEADERSHIP FORUM
OCTOBER 20, 2021
VIP LEADERSHIP DINNER & RECEPTION |OCTOBER 20, 2021
BEST PRACTICES CONFERENCE
OCTOBER 21-22, 2021
BREAKFAST & LUNCH
COCKTAIL RECEPTION
OCTOBER 21, 2021
1-DAY FORECASTING & PLANNING TUTORIAL
( OCTOBER 19, 2021 (ACTIVE IBF MEMBERS ONLY)
IBF MEMBERSHIP
(1 YEAR)
CPF CERTIFICATION EXAMS
3 EXAMS
BOOK: FUNDAMENTALS OF DEMAND PLANNING & FORECASTING
(FREE SHIPPING)
Sponsors
Exhibitors
  • SAS
  • Depsoco
  • Demandchainai
  • Reveal
  • Hydrian Inventory Optimization
  • Boardwalktech
Put the IBF to Work for You!

Become an IBF Member and Start Improving Your Forecasting & Planning Performance Today.

The IBF Advantage:

IBF members include well-known company professionals that span a broad array of business sectors. By joining our organization, you can make certain that your company sets up the right forecasting & planning process and uses the best techniques available. Moreover, you can be sure that your forecasting and demand planning staff has the proper knowledge and skill set for success.

As an IBF member you receive:

  • A subscription to the Journal of Business Forecasting, which is primarily written by and geared toward practitioners.
  • Our Research Reports which include valuable benchmarking information and provide you with eye opening information on various topics in Business Forecasting and Planning.
  • Special discounts on our Conferences, Workshops, Training Seminars, Certification Program, as well as on any new products and services we will offer in the future.
  • Access to Journal of Business Forecasting Past Articles (FREE)Access to our growing online Knowledge section & Action Templates
  • Complimentary 1-day Tutorials at select Global events ($1000 USD Value)
Event Location
Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek
+1 (407) 390-2300
Chelonia Pkwy14651
Orlando, Florida
32821 USA
+1.800.996.3426
IBF Sleeping Room Special Rate: $209 (USD)/ night + tax when you reserve by September 28, 2021. Resort fee waived for IBF conference attendees.
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