Necessity never made a good bargain. – Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

When a retailer seriously embarks on an effort to completely reshape how they plan the flow of goods from supplier to shelf, the discussion inevitably turns to what software they will need to do the job. (And ideally, this isn’t Step 1 of the process).

As the time approaches to evaluate software vendors, someone in company leadership is bound to utter the phrase “We don’t need a Ferrari”. After that, everyone in the room will nod their heads sagely in agreement. You can almost set your watch by it.

The message they’re trying to send is “We don’t need unnecessary sophistication and we don’t want to spend a ridiculous amount of money. We just need to get the basics right.”

I believe the intention is correct. You don’t want the design and implementation team to go off on a wild search for the most sophisticated system they can find – whether or not it’s proven or even necessary. But the advice may not be as useful as you think.

People who are tasked with transforming supply chain planning generally don’t need to be constrained or reined in. They need to be led. By the time you get to this point, you should already have assembled a team with strong convictions and a bias toward pragmatism – they won’t run around chasing shiny objects. Sometimes they will need leadership to be led by them.

Using well-meaning platitudes like “we don’t need a Ferrari” doesn’t really clarify anything and could potentially lead them down the road of picking a simplistic system over a simple one.

The team needs to understand time-tested and proven planning principles, what the true requirements of the organization are (including taking into account future strategic direction) and what results they are expected to deliver.

A system with a simple data structure, easy navigation and limited options that doesn’t adhere to solid planning principles and doesn’t meet the requirements will not deliver results.

Just because some functionality may be more complex or sophisticated than what you have today, that doesn’t make it “too fancy”, unless the mandate is to implement a new system and process that does the same thing you’ve always done (with the same results). Not all sophistication is unnecessary.

Just because people will need to acquire more skills – some of which may be difficult to learn – doesn’t mean that the system or process is “too complicated”.

No, you do not need a Ferrari – because nobody “needs” a Ferrari. 

But there is a wide range of options between a Ferrari and a tricycle. Your requirements need to dictate whether you need a Corolla, a minivan or a pickup truck.

Don’t choose a tricycle just because it’s the farthest option away from a Ferrari. A simplistic system that doesn’t meet requirements makes the implementation just as complicated as an over-engineered system that you don’t need.