In today’s complex, fast-moving Service Supply Chain environment, one-size-fits-all solutions simply don’t cut it. Service organizations require nuanced, intelligent support that adapts to their evolving business needs, not inflexible outsourcing contracts that offer little strategic insight. This is where Baxter Planning’s Planning as a Service (PaaS) comes in.
As part of our Value Accelerator Program, PaaS is a true partnership, not just a service handoff. We bring our expertise, tools, and people into close alignment with your planning ecosystem to help BaxterPredict users unlock operational excellence and long-term value.
A Collaborative Model for Service Parts Planning
Traditional managed services often feel like a leap of faith. You hand off your planning function and hope the external team delivers against service level agreements (SLAs). But visibility, responsiveness, and integration often suffer.
PaaS flips that script. We assign a dedicated planning expert based on your specific setup, to work aside your team. Your team is also supported by a Customer Success Manager (CSM) and executives within your organization also have access to a Strategic Account Manager (SAM).
From a planning perspective, your team retains control of strategic inputs, such as purchasing and network design, while we guide you through best practices using the BaxterPredict platform and support project work. The result? Maximized value without silos.
Tackle Service Supply Chain Complexity Head-on
The Service Supply Chain is uniquely challenging. From multi-echelon networks to varying SLAs, distribution methods, and inventory costs, managing service parts is as much an art as it is a science.
Our PaaS offering brings real-world expertise to your Service Parts Planning.
We help optimize:
- Complex SLAs
- High-variability demand patterns
- Reverse logistics and repair workflows
- Part chaining, new product introductions, and end-of-life transitions
- Long and unpredictable lead times
- Planning in the face of disruption
This isn’t a plug-and-play model, it’s a tailored strategy grounded in decades of practitioner experience and supported by purpose-built technology.
How to Navigate Tariff Disruptions with Confidence
Due to the anticipated rise of tariff-related costs, today’s industry leaders truly require proactive planning. In fact, nearly 40% of global operations leaders expect double-digit increases in inventory costs due to tariffs. The Service Supply Chain is under new financial pressure. That’s why Baxter Planning offers Tariff Mitigation services within our PaaS model.
Through BaxterProphet, part of the BaxterPredict platform, and our expert planning support via PaaS, we run simulations with your team, assess changes to sourcing strategies, model supplier diversification, transportation path changes, and forecast demand by region to anticipate tariff impacts.
We help service organizations optimize network design and rebalance service and cost, keeping you in control during volatile trade conditions.
Service Supply Chains with Mission-Critical Parts
For service organizations operating in high-uptime, mission-critical environments, such as high technology, industrial machinery, telecommunications, aerospace, and medical technology, PaaS goes beyond daily planning activities. It acts as an extension of your team, focused on strategic initiatives and real-time responsiveness, giving your customers an optimal experience.
Through the Planning Responsibilities Outline (PRO), your Baxter Planning team engages in:
- Inventory Optimization and Lifecycle Planning to manage cost, reduce excess, and maintain availability across complex product lifecycles
- Shortage and Excess Analysis to proactively balance availability and cost across multi-echelon networks
- Replenishment and Redeployment Management for rapid part movement where and when it’s needed, ensuring part utilization, excess mitigation, and critical assets stay operational
- Hit Rate and Forecast Accuracy Analysis to fine tune predictions, align service parts availability with actual field needs, and support OTD/FTF targets
- Technician-Level Planning for organizations with large field teams, ensuring demand and stock allocation appropriate to your needs
- Strategic Supply Chain Projects (two annually included) to continuously improve across a variety of practice areas including network design, sourcing strategies, and automation workflows
This structured and proactive approach empowers large service organizations to reduce unplanned downtime, improve SLAs, and maintain the high availability that mission-critical operations demand.
Read how PaaS helped Nutanix reduced days of supply by over 46% while maintaining a service level of >99%.
How Planning as Service Helps You Stay Flexible
One of the biggest concerns with services of this nature is the risk of being locked in with no flexibility. Transitioning away can be costly, disruptive, and politically fraught.
That is not the case with PaaS. If an organization decides to do all their planning themselves, a shift from PaaS to SaaS is entirely possible as there are low barriers to switch back. However, Baxter Planning’s top performing customers continuously use PaaS given the benefits of the close partnership, intimate knowledge, and significant value-adding best practice and project work.
Continuous Improvement, Embedded in the Model
At Baxter Planning, we don’t just “set and forget.” In addition to ongoing PaaS services, we conduct regular Business Reviews (BRs) and Executive Business Reviews (EBRs) where we preview KPIs with customer champions, align on trends, and flag any roadblocks early.
This level of proactive governance helps service organizations stay ahead of operational complexity while continuously optimizing performance.
Why Choose Planning as a Service from Baxter Planning
From deep industry expertise to predictive prowess, here’s why more service organizations are choosing Baxter Planning’s PaaS over traditional outsourcing models:
- Strategic Partnership: A shared commitment to your success, not just a vendor relationship
- Purpose-Built Technology: Solutions delivered through the BaxterPredict platform, optimized for the Service Supply Chain
- Embedded Expertise: Veteran planners are a true part of your team, driving best practices and results from the start
- Full Visibility & Accountability: Override transparency, clean data, and shared KPIs, enabling meaningful partnership and value
- Scalability & Flexibility: The option to transition to SaaS if needed—no sunk-cost trap or irreversible decisions
- Tariff Mitigation Support: Expert planning guidance and simulations to help you navigate rising import costs and supply chain redesigns
Ready to Ramp up Your Service Parts Planning?
Baxter Planning’s PaaS is about empowering your team, reducing disruptions, and elevating service outcomes—all while keeping you in control.
To explore how PaaS can transform your Service Supply Chain, connect with our team or visit baxterplanning.com.
