brand logo
BUSINESS PLANNING, FORECASTING & S&OP/ IBP: BEST PRACTICES CONFERENCE
w/ Leadership Forum & Fundamentals of Forecasting and Planning Tutorial
Orlando, Florida, USA
October 20–23, 2026
Register Now
Super Early Bird Rate – Expires in 28 days 19 hours
(on July 24, 2026).
Why Attend?
  • tabs image tabs image

    Best Practices Conference

  • tabs image tabs image

    Why Attend

  • tabs image tabs image

    See Attendee List

  • tabs image tabs image

    Leadership Forum

  • tabs image tabs image

    Pre-Conference Tutorial

  • tabs image tabs image

    CPF Certification

  • tabs image tabs image

    Supply Chain Planning Certificate

  • tabs image tabs image

    S&OP Certificate

  • tabs image tabs image

    About Us

This is the world’s leading S&OP/ IBP, demand planning, supply planning, and forecasting conference, bringing together a wide range of professionals for 2 or 3 days of workshops, round robins, and panel discussions. With 2 maturity streams, it is designed both for companies getting started with planning as well as companies looking to take their planning to best-in-class. This event is community-focused with multiple networking and socializing opportunities in a friendly environment, all in a stunning Orlando location.

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
  • Discounts at Walt Disney World! For those attending the IBF conference in Orlando, enjoy discounted opportunities at the Disney parks only a few miles away. Use the following link to book:
    [check back soon for link]
  • All this and more
See What our Participants are Saying
Event Speakers
Imane Sabeh, CPF
Imane Sabeh, CPF
KBI Biopharma
Vice President of Global Supply Chain

Imane “Amy” Sabeh is Vice President of Global S&OP at KBI Biopharma (a JSR company), where she leads global integrated planning and S&OP strategy. She previously held senior planning leadership roles at PODS, Clorox, Sunbrella, and Teleflex across moving and storage, CPG, and biotech industries. Imane specializes in designing and implementing end-to-end S&OP/IBP processes and strategic planning transformations. She is host of The Strategic Planning Room podcast, a published author in the Journal of Business Forecasting, and co-author of Practical Guide to Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP/IBP) published by the Institute of Business Forecasting & Planning. She holds an MBA from the University of South Florida, is a Certified Professional Forecaster (CPF), and was recognized as a Rising Star by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.

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.

Chintan Shah
Chintan Shah
BIC
Head of Supply Chain & Operations

Chintan Shah is Head of Supply Chain & Operations at BIC and brings more than 25 years of global leadership experience across strategic and operational supply chain management. Having lived and worked in Australia, Germany, India, the United States, and Canada, he combines a broad international perspective with deep expertise in supply chain design, technology enablement, and large-scale transformation. Chintan is recognized for building agile, efficient supply chains that improve business performance across complex organizations.

Adam Rozsa
Adam Rozsa
Veolia Water Technologies
Senior Director – Sales & Operations Planning

Adam Rozsa is Senior Director of Sales & Operations Planning at Veolia Water Technologies, a global leader in environmental transformation and water treatment solutions. He leads planning initiatives that align demand, supply, and business objectives across the organization. Prior to his current role, Adam held multiple planning, project leadership, and engineering positions, developing extensive expertise in S&OP, operational excellence, and business transformation.

Tom Kelly
Tom Kelly
Bumble Bee Foods
Sr. Demand Forecaster

Tom Kelly is Senior Demand Forecaster at Bumble Bee Foods, where he focuses on improving forecast accuracy and strengthening collaboration between sales and forecasting teams. He has played a key role in developing innovative tools and processes that improve visibility into forecast changes and support stronger consensus planning. Tom specializes in practical forecasting solutions that increase alignment, accountability, and forecast performance.

Mazdul Choudhury
Mazdul Choudhury
Walmart
Staff Product Manager

Mazdul Hassan Choudhury is a Staff Product Manager at Walmart with more than 15 years of experience leading digital transformation initiatives across retail operations, supply chain, merchandising, fulfillment, and customer experience. He has launched AI-powered solutions that improve decision-making, operational efficiency, and business performance. Prior to Walmart, Mazdul held leadership roles at Bob's Discount Furniture, Capgemini, Equinor, and IBM, leading enterprise technology and transformation programs.

Christopher Mael
Christopher Mael
Agility Robotics
Director of Planning & Logistics

Christopher currently works as the Director of Planning & Logistics at Agility Robotics. Prior to this, he was the Director of Sales & Operations Planning at Precor Inc., where he held the global responsibility for Master Production Scheduling, Supply Planning, Supplier Scheduling & Purchasing, and Master Data. Throughout his career, he has created and led new planning teams, including training, professional development, implementation of end-to-end planning tools and standard operating procedures. Christopher has had global responsibility for planning teams in Europe, North America, and Asia for more than 15 years, and works regularly with executive leaders to facilitate timely decisions for delivering customer success stories, while making business stakeholders happy.

Connor Richards
Connor Richards
Royal Caribbean Group
Director - GSC Business Planning

Connor boasts a diverse background covering logistics, distribution, supply chain management, and analytics. During his 12-year tenure at FedEx, he refined his skills across various roles such as sales, aircraft acquisition, and management, gaining valuable experience in multiple operating companies. Additionally, he managed all North American distribution and reverse logistics for a specialty shoe manufacturer for two years. In his nearly three years at RCG, Connor has held leadership positions in Shared Services and Global Supply Chain, focusing on driving responsible business results. Currently, he leads a pioneering team at RCG, tasked with aligning operational, strategic, and financial planning to reduce waste through forecasting and communication. Connor's commitment to continuous improvement is evident as he utilizes his Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Quality Driven Management training to optimize responsibly.

Jim Barnes
Jim Barnes
Veolia Water Technologies
Vice President, Global Sales & Operations Planning

Jim Barnes is a supply chain planning and transformation executive, currently leading the implementation of Global Planning at Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions, an organization dedicated to water conservation and re-use, world-wide. Prior to Veolia, Jim held executive positions at Johnson Controls, the Institute for Supply Management, and KPMG. His supply chain experience spans 3 decades across a wide variety of industries, including Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing and Energy.

Todd Dunn, CPF
Todd Dunn, CPF
Catalent Pharmaceutical
Director of Supply Chain

Todd Dunn is currently the Director of Supply Chain at Catalent Pharmaceutical. Most recently, he is IBF's 2018 "Excellence in Business Forecasting & Planning" award winner. Todd has held several management positions in supply chain and production within his 28 years of manufacturing experience. He was the project manager to successfully lead his organization to Class A MRPII certification. He has facilitated the pre-S&OP and executive S&OP meetings for over 15 years. He holds a BSc degree in Business Management and obtained the Michigan Certificate from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He has been a speaker at several Supply Chain & Demand Planning events across North America for many years covering topics related to Demand Management and S&OP/ IBP. Todd is a Certified Professional Forecaster (CPF).

Misty Eldridge
Misty Eldridge
GE Appliances
Director DT, Planning and Fulfillment Systems

Misty is the Director of DT, 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.

Jonathan Schwartz, CPF
Jonathan Schwartz, CPF
Bumble Bee Foods
Head of Global Planning

Jonathan Schwartz is Head of Global Planning at Bumble Bee Foods, where he leads demand and supply management, master data, and analytics to align operational plans with corporate objectives. His work focuses on optimizing inventory strategies, improving cash flow, and ensuring financial alignment in partnership with corporate finance. With deep expertise in S&OP, demand and supply planning, annual financial planning, and inventory management, Jonathan has extensive experience in the CPG sector, including seafood, pet food, and specialty lubricants. He holds a degree in Business Administration from San Diego State University and National University, is a Certified Professional Forecaster (CPF), and serves on advisory boards for the University of San Diego’s Supply Chain Management Institute and Curebound.

Tony Balliro
Tony Balliro
Zeus
VP of Global Supply Chain

Tony Balliro is Vice President of Global Supply Chain at Zeus and a seasoned supply chain executive with more than 30 years of experience in the medical device and life sciences industries. Throughout his career, he has led transformational initiatives focused on planning, operations, inventory optimization, acquisition integration, and business process redesign. Tony is recognized for helping organizations build agile, fit-for-purpose supply chain capabilities that improve service, efficiency, and business outcomes.

John Gallucci
John Gallucci
Mondelēz International
Senior Director, Enterprise Planning

John Gallucci is Senior Director, Enterprise Planning at Mondelez International, with more than 20 years of leadership experience in business planning, S&OP, and Integrated Business Planning (IBP). He has designed and implemented planning processes across multiple global organizations in the consumer goods, food and beverage, and chemical industries. John holds a B.S. in Marketing and Business Management from Lehigh University and has been CPIM certified since 2000. A member of the IBF Board of Advisors since 2008, he is a frequent speaker on forecasting and planning best practices and was recognized with IBF's Excellence in Business Forecasting & Planning Award in 2014.

Tim Hotze
Tim Hotze
Trane Technologies
Corporate Vice President Supply Chain - Planning -Digitization & AI

Tim Hotze is Corporate Vice President, Supply Chain – Planning, Digitization & AI at Trane Technologies. A recognized supply chain leader, he has held executive planning, network strategy, and operations roles across global organizations, including Target, Amazon, and Panalpina. His expertise spans S&OP, Integrated Business Planning (IBP), network optimization, capacity planning, and supply chain digitization. Tim serves on the IBF Advisory Board and holds a joint Master’s degree in Engineering and Supply Chain Management from TU Darmstadt.

Patrick Bower
Patrick Bower
Actylis
Sr. Director of Supply Chain
Pat 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” - he 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. Pat’s experience encompasses tenures with Cadbury, Kraft Foods, Unisys, and Snapple. He also worked for the supply chain software company - Numetrix and was Vice President of R&D at Atrion International. Pat was the recipient of IBF’s 2012 award for Excellence in Business Forecasting & Planning.
Eric Wilson, ACPF
Eric Wilson, ACPF
Institute of Business Forecasting & Planning
Director of Thought Leadership

Eric Wilson is Director of Thought Leadership at the Institute of Business Forecasting & Planning, bringing over 20 years of experience in demand planning and predictive analytics. He previously led forecasting at Escalade Sports, Berry Plastics, and Tempur Sealy. Eric is an IBF Advanced Certified Professional Forecaster (ACPF) and recipient of IBF’s Excellence in Business Forecasting & Planning Award. He is a frequent speaker, published author, and contributor to The Journal of Business Forecasting.

Event Speakers
Imane Sabeh, CPF
Imane Sabeh, CPF
KBI Biopharma
Vice President of Global Supply Chain
Christopher Mael
Christopher Mael
Agility Robotics
Director of Planning & Logistics
Mazdul Choudhury
Mazdul Choudhury
Walmart
Staff Product Manager
Conference Schedule
  • Pre-Conference Tutorial
    Oct 20, 2026
  • Leadership Forum
    Oct 21, 2026
  • Conference Day 1
    Oct 22, 2026
  • Conference Day 2
    Oct 23, 2026
IBF Members Only
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
TUTORIAL REGISTRATION
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
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

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
Presented By:
Speaker photo
Eric Wilson, ACPF
Institute of Business Forecasting & PlanningDirector of Thought Leadership
Pricing
Super Early Bird Rate
(Expires in 28 days 19 hours)
SILVER PACKAGE
$2,099
$1,899

Member’s discount: -$100

GOLD PACKAGE
$2,374
$2,174
PLATINUM PACKAGE
$2,899
$2,699

Member’s discount: -$100

DIAMOND PACKAGE
$3,174
$2,974
4th FREE - DIAMOND GROUP
$9,522
$8,922
Best Value (Group) (4 persons for price of 3)
DIAMOND CPF CERTIFICATION PACKAGE
$4,574
$4,374
Best Value (+CPF Certification)
Leadership Forum Only
$1,799
$1,599

Member’s discount: -$100

ADD-ON: Certificate in S&OP/ IBP
$899
$899
ADD-ON: Certificate In Supply Chain Planning
$899
$899
LEADERSHIP FORUM
OCTOBER 21, 2026
VIP LEADERSHIP DINNER & RECEPTION
OCTOBER 21, 2026
BEST PRACTICES CONFERENCE
OCTOBER 22-23, 2026
BREAKFAST & LUNCH
COCKTAIL RECEPTION
OCTOBER 22, 2026
FUNDAMENTALS OF S&OP, DEMAND PLANNING & FORECASTING TUTORIAL
OCTOBER 21, 2026 (ACTIVE IBF MEMBERS ONLY)
IBF MEMBERSHIP
(1 YEAR)
CPF CERTIFICATION EXAMS
3 EXAMS
BOOK: FUNDAMENTALS OF DEMAND PLANNING & FORECASTING
(FREE SHIPPING)
S&OP/ IBP CERTIFICATE - INCLUDES EXAM FOR KNOWLEDGE-CHECK
CERTIFICATE: SUPPLY CHAIN PLANNING - INCLUDES EXAM FOR KNOWLEDGE-CHECK

ELIGIBLE

ELIGIBLE

ELIGIBLE

ELIGIBLE

ELIGIBLE

ELIGIBLE

ELIGIBLE

ELIGIBLE

ELIGIBLE

ELIGIBLE

ELIGIBLE

ELIGIBLE

ELIGIBLE

ELIGIBLE

ADD-ON

ADD-ON

ADD-ON

ADD-ON

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)
Upcoming Events & Trainings
October 21, 2026
Orlando
Business Planning, Forecasting & S&OP/ IBP...
September 3, 11, 16, 24, 28, 30, October 7, 2026
Online
Preserve cash, achieve new product forecasting success, optimize Inventory & supply chain efficiency and more....
Event Location
Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek
$229/ night + tax
For call-in reservations, please mention IBF
14651 Chelonia Pkwy
Orlando, Florida
USA
reservations@wyndhamgrandorlando.com
+1.407.390.2300
To maximize your experience, we encourage you to book your stay at our host hotel. Being just steps away from sessions and all scheduled and impromptu networking opportunities will save you time and enhance your connections with fellow participants.

If additional rooms or room nights are required outside the meeting dates, please contact info@ibf.org for assistance.
Book My Accomodation