What Does a Business Planning Analyst Do?

The typical focus of a business planning analyst is on commercial production processes. His or her primary goal is to improve productivity and reduce waste by streamlining production methods. A business analyst’s job typically entails analyzing factors that drive costs using a variety of financial analysis tools. Calculating a return on investment (ROI) through the use of quantitative analysis is another common responsibility for those in this field.

Analyzing productive processes is frequently a necessary skill for someone in this field. He or she may review the various steps involved in making a product or providing a service as part of an overall business planning strategy aimed at lowering production costs. Typically, cost savings are realized as a result of the analyst’s efforts to identify existing processes that can be performed more efficiently. A business planning analyst may recommend the implementation of new procedures on occasion. He or she may also be asked to assist in the development of a completely new workflow process.

A business analyst will likely break down each action, whether it’s a service-oriented activity or a manufacturing activity, when streamlining productive processes. At regular intervals, the step-by-step analysis can be performed. New product launches frequently necessitate the assistance of a business planning analyst. Other times, this analysis may be carried out under duress in order to maintain a competitive advantage or in response to an increase in the cost of raw materials or human capital.

For example, if a manufacturer is making a consumer electronic device, the business analyst may identify certain assembly procedures as inefficient and time-consuming. The analyst will almost certainly collaborate with product engineers or other members of the team to find ways to improve the process. If the item currently requires ten separate manufacturing procedures, and the business analyst discovers that two of them can be combined into one, cost savings may be realized.

A key function of a business planning analyst is to identify and fully comprehend expense drivers so that inefficient processes can be improved. When calculating the ROI for a production process, the business planning analyst must consider a number of factors. He or she may conduct a thorough statistical analysis. He or she may look at things like the number of man-hours used to deliver a service or manufacture a product, as well as the cost of staffing and how that affects a company’s profit margin.