Scenario Planning for Expiring Options: How Supply Chain Leaders Prepare Decisions Before Constraints Close In

Scenario planning is often treated as an exercise in imagining multiple futures. In a decision-ready supply chain, its more practical purpose is to prepare choices before the organization is forced to make them.

When conditions change, response options do not remain open indefinitely. Capacity fills, inventory moves, bookings commit, customer promises harden, and lead times compress. Scenario planning creates value when it identifies what can be done while those options are still available.