Tackle retail planning and supply chain challenges with confidence
Retail planning and supply chain management are becoming increasingly complex. Demand shifts faster, disruptions last longer, and every planning decision carries immediate financial consequences. Planning gaps often manifest as excess inventory or reactive firefighting. Disconnected tools and limited visibility make it difficult to respond—or plan ahead with confidence.
We help organizations break that cycle. By aligning people, processes, data, and technology, we transform planning into a disciplined, decision-driven capability that supports business priorities and delivers measurable results.
Tailored retail and supply chain management solutions for your business
We operate as a true partner, driving performance across strategy, execution, and day-to-day operations with practical retail supply chain management solutions that scale. We help organizations plan with confidence, act decisively, and remain resilient in times of change.
Whether it’s underused planning systems, sales and operation processes (S&OP) that aren’t decision-focused, growth that has outpaced existing models, or multi-channel operations that lack alignment, we design solutions—including category management and retail category management services—that connect strategy to execution. Our approach ensures teams have the tools, governance, and processes to make better, faster decisions that drive measurable business outcomes.
A partner for comprehensive retail planning and supply chain management solutions
Highspring delivers end-to-end retail and supply chain management consulting services that span strategy, execution, and operational excellence, designed for retail and manufacturing complexity.
Strategy, planning, and execution
Strategy, planning, and execution
Align retail and supply chain strategy to long-term business goals. We assess current planning capabilities, identify gaps, and define a clear roadmap focused on outcomes that matter.
- Strategic assessments and maturity models
- Roadmap development and governance
- Planning operating model design
Optimization
Optimization
Improve efficiency, visibility, and decision-making across supply chain operations. Using proven frameworks and models, we help integrate systems, processes, and data into a cohesive planning environment.
- Forecast and inventory optimization
- Process standardization and integration
- Floor and space plan optimization
- Localized merchandise and assortment planning
- Allocation optimization
- Trade and promotions spend optimization
- Clearance price optimization
- Logistics and warehouse optimization
- Network design and asset optimization
- Procurement optimization
- Performance measurement and KPIs
Implementation
Implementation
Adopt retail and supply chain management solutions that fit your business. From design and testing through training and adoption, we support every stage to ensure sustainable outcomes.
- Planning solution selection
- System configuration and deployment
- User enablement and adoption support
Data analytics
Data analytics
Turn data into insight that improves planning decisions. By focusing on the right metrics, we help teams move faster and plan with confidence.
- Forecast accuracy and bias analysis
- Scenario and what-if modeling
- Decision-support dashboards
Managed services
Managed services
Increase flexibility while reducing cost with scalable planning services. We offer supply chain and forecasting-as-a-service, along with category management services, supported by secure, cloud-based infrastructure built for reliability.
- Supply Chain-as-a-Service
- Category Management-as-a-Service
- Cloud hosting and application support
Supply chain leadership
Supply chain leadership
Strong leadership drives effective strategies and execution. We help organizations identify and place leaders who strengthen planning disciplines and guide teams through change.
- Interim and permanent leadership placement
- Planning and supply chain talent advisory
Why Highspring?
Organizations come to Highspring when planning efforts aren’t keeping up with the pace of change. Common challenges include inconsistent forecasts, excess inventory in some areas and shortages in others, disconnected planning tools, and teams stretched thin trying to manage it all.
Highspring helps retailers and manufacturers bring structure, clarity, and accountability to supply chain management. By combining strategy, technology, data, and execution expertise, we help organizations turn planning into a disciplined, decision-driven capability—from lower costs and better service levels to more resilient operations.
How we deliver
- Assess current supply chain performance, planning gaps, and operational pain points
- Design improved planning processes, models, and systems that fit the business
- Implement practical solutions across tools, analytics, processes, and training
- Optimize continuously to ensure results stick and evolve over time
We don’t just improve planning—we improve business performance
Financial impact
- Lower inventory carrying costs
- Fewer stockouts and lost sales through higher forecast accuracy
- Reduced expedited freight and production costs
- Improved margins
Operational excellence
- Shorter planning cycles
- Better end-to-end visibility across the supply chain
- More stable production and supplier coordination
Strategic advantage
- A more flexible supply chain that adapts to disruption
- Data-driven decision-making at every planning stage
- Improved service levels and customer satisfaction
Long-term capability building
- Stronger internal planning teams
- Modernized planning tools
- Repeatable, scalable retail and supply chain management processes
Partners we work with
As the largest implementer of Blue Yonder, we bring deep experience across end-to-end supply chain management. This includes forecasting, supply planning, allocation and replenishment, space and category management, production planning, and supply chain optimization.
Recognition with Blue Yonder
Highspring was awarded the Blue Yonder 2025 Partner Leadership Award for Planning Partner of the Year.
This marks six consecutive Blue Yonder Leadership Award wins and eight overall.
ketteQ helps companies transform planning into a faster, more accurate, and more aligned decision-making engine. Built on Salesforce, the platform delivers connected demand, inventory, supply planning, real-time visibility, automated workflows, and scenario intelligence. With ketteQ, leaders reduce risk, improve service, and optimize inventory and cost.
Meet our retail planning and supply chain management leaders
Bob Patel
Partner and Practice Leader
Bob Patel is a Managing Partner in Highspring’s Retail Planning and Supply Chain Practice, with more than 26 years of experience in the retail planning and supply chain industry serving retail, food and beverage, CPG, and industrial clients. He’s held senior leadership roles at Wipro Technologies, Logility, and Blue Yonder. With deep domain expertise, Bob has gained extensive industry knowledge across retail grocery, soft-line and fashion, office products, hard goods, wholesale, food service, quick-serve restaurants, consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, high technology, and automotive aftermarket parts.
Bob’s clients view him as an integral member of their transformation teams and a trusted supply chain management and technology advisor. He brings a unique perspective on end-to-end operations for retail planning and supply chains focused on maximizing the customer experience. Many of his clients have earned transformational awards across FMCG, retail grocery, retail food service, and life sciences industries.
Outside of serving clients, Bob enjoys reading, following world news and events and their impact on supply chains. He also enjoys gardening, charting and reviewing technical stock analysis, and spending time with his parents and extended family, including his nieces and nephews, every Friday.
Ben Kriebel
Managing Director, Hosting and Managed Services
Ben has been with Highspring for more than 15 years and serves as Managing Director of Hosting and Managed Services within the Retail Planning and Supply Chain Management practice. In this role, he oversees Blue Yonder solutions, leading post-go live support for cloud customers in collaboration with the Blue Yonder team, while also supporting on-premises environments. Ben partners with clients to design tailored programs that support production operations across distribution, manufacturing, CPG, and retail. He’s skilled in navigating cross-functional teams to elicit business needs and translating them into technical requirements that drive business goals and strategic outcomes.
Prior to joining Highspring, Ben worked on enterprise projects as a Senior Project Manager. He brings deep expertise in enterprise software implementations, data center migrations and buildouts, SaaS and public cloud migrations, and standing up global system support organizations. His industry experience spans transportation and logistics, CPG, manufacturing, maintenance repair organizations, retail, and federal agency and Department of Defense client engagements.
Ben earned his B.S. in financial services from Pennsylvania State University and has maintained a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) certification for more than a decade. Outside of serving clients, Ben enjoys the outdoors, spending part of the year at the beach, and chauffeuring his twin daughters to sports practices, games, and theater practice in partnership with his wife.
Eddie Graves
Managing Director, Technology Services
Eddie Graves is Managing Director of Technology Services for Highspring’s Retail Planning and Supply Chain Management practice, working with clients across retail, apparel, outdoor lifestyle, consumer goods, industrial manufacturing, and e-commerce. He supports clients by maintaining and updating their end-to-end planning capabilities from a technical standpoint. Focused on delivering top-tier technical solutions, Eddie leads a team of skilled experts who consistently provide clients with high-quality, efficient outcomes.
Eddie is a seasoned supply chain specialist with expertise in designing, developing, and deploying supply chain management solutions. With more than three decades of professional IT experience—including two decades overseeing and leading teams—he’s spent 25 years implementing Blue Yonder supply chain solutions as a Technical Executive, Manager, and Implementer.
When he’s not supporting his clients, Eddie enjoys biking, golfing, woodworking, and spending time with his family.
Codye Satterwhite
Partner, Retail Planning and Supply Chain Management
Codye Satterwhite is a Partner in Highspring’s Retail Planning and Supply Chain Management practice. He has over 20 years of experience leading production, warehouse, and distribution center operations, network design and optimization, S&OP design and execution, supply chain planning, production scheduling, inventory management, and optimization, and project management. Prior to joining Highspring, Codye served as Director of Warehousing and Distribution and Demand Planning, Inventory Management, and VMI Group Manager for CSM Bakery Solutions. efore that, he served as Global Training Manager for Blue Yonder specializing in knowledgebase development, project team and end-user training, and network design and optimization consulting.
Codye has also held leadership roles at Target Corporation and Schreiber Foods in supply chain management, distribution, and manufacturing operations. He is a thought and practice leader in supply chain management and has presented at several industry conferences. He was recognized by Supply and Demand Chain Executive magazine as a “Pro to Know” for his contributions to supply chain network design and optimization. Outside of serving clients, Codye enjoys music production and sound engineering in addition to working on his YouTube channel.
Andy Gray
Managing Director, Supply Chain-as-a-Service
Andy Gray is a Managing Director for Highspring’s Supply Chain-as-a-Service. He serves clients across retail, apparel, outdoor lifestyle, consumer goods, industrial manufacturing, and e-commerce, helping them modernize their end-to-end planning capabilities. Focused on delivering measurable business outcomes, Andy builds high-performing, practitioner-led teams through best-in-class recruiting and development, creating a differentiated client experience rooted in expertise, speed, and reliability.
With more than 15 years of supply chain and consulting experience, Andy has operated inside and alongside billion-dollar brands, giving him a uniquely practical perspective that blends industry execution, advanced planning system expertise, and strategic advisory capability. His background spans demand, supply, and inventory planning; S&OP and S&OE transformation; global planning operating models; and the design and implementation of planning-as-a-service organizations.
Andy is known for his ability to connect planning decisions to revenue, margin, service, and working capital outcomes, and for helping organizations shift from reactive planning to strategic, financially aligned decision-making. Outside of serving clients, Andy enjoys trail running, mountain biking, overlanding, fly fishing, and exploring the Blue Ridge Mountains with his family.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes Highspring different from other retail planning and supply chain management consulting firms?
Highspring combines strategy, technology, and execution expertise to deliver end-to-end retail and supply chain management solutions, including category management services. Unlike firms that only focus on planning tools or advisory, we implement scalable solutions that improve performance across forecasting, inventory, and operational execution.