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The Institute of Business Forecasting & Planning, IBF, would like to proudly acknowledge and congratulate our 2014 Business Forecasting & Planning Recognition Award Recipients.  The IBF’s Business Forecasting & Planning Recognition Awards are presented annually in October to those individuals who distinguish themselves as the most influential and innovative thought leaders, solution providers, and leaders in the field. The following individuals were honored at the IBF’s Business Planning and Forecasting Conference in Orlando on October 28, 2014.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN BUSINESS FORECASTING & PLANNING

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Mark Covas (Center)
Group Director, Planning COE at the Coca Cola Company
has been honored as the IBF’s 2014 “Lifetime Achievement in Business Forecasting & Planning” recipient for his excellence, professional commitment, and dedication to advancing the field.

Anish Jain, Managing Director, IBF (right) on honoring Mark Covas:
For over 20 years, Mark Covas has more than demonstrated his passion for the field and what the IBF was doing to support it. Early in his career, Mark became and continues to be, a torch bearer for those in demand planning and forecasting. Mark’s passion has led him to be a key contributor since the IBF’s inception. He has been published repeatedly in the IBF’s Journal of Business Forecasting. He partnered with Dr. Chaman Jain, IBF’s founder, to publish a Wall Street Journal special article entitled ‘Seven Tips for Making Forecasting More Effective’. He owns the longest tenure as an IBF board of advisor, and has been a frequent speaker at IBF conferences sharing his passion, knowledge, and expertise. His international influence has opened doors in London and Singapore and his groundbreaking work with U.S companies has impacted multiple geographic regions, thousands in the field, and numerous countries such as China and Taiwan. Mark’s commitment and passion has been an incredible influence on not only the IBF and myself, but the entire global forecasting community.

Mark Covas on receiving this honor:
“I feel very honored to receive this award but have to admit that I am just an example of a Practitioner who ‘knows what they don’t know’. Over the past 18 years I leveraged every aspect of the IBF to fill those knowledge gaps, which in turn has enabled the success I have had in my career. That success can be directly attributed to the IBF and their network, many I have come to know over the years who have generously shared the best practices they have applied at their own companies. Additionally, it is the great partnerships I have been able to form with industry leading vendors who have provided the needed tools to support processes I have been able to put into place. The recognition is greatly appreciated, but must be shared with a very wide and diverse group of talented individuals”

EXCELLENCE IN BUSINESS FORECASTING & PLANNING

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John A. Gallucci (Center)
Senior Director, Product Planning, Frozen Division at Pinnacle Foods Group LLC
has been honored as the IBF’s 2014 “Excellence in Business Forecasting & Planning” Award

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Alan Milliken, SC Education Specialist at BASF & 2013 Excellence in Business Forecasting & Planning Award Winner (right) on honoring John Gallucci:
“For over a decade now, John has offered his expertise and thought leadership to the Institute of Business Forecasting (IBF). He has introduced new ideas to the community such as applying lean techniques to the forecasting process to improve the effectiveness and efficiency. John has written numerous articles in the IBF’s Journal of Business Forecasting to help others implement and improve planning processes…John’s efforts as a practitioner have included ground up implementations of demand planning and S&OP processes. He possesses the ability to assess the current environment and designs planning processes that achieve desired results. John also continuously improves planning processes at his firm by introducing leading edge technology and the latest best practices. ”

John Gallucci on receiving this honor:
“It is an honor to receive this award, knowing that I was nominated and selected by peers who handle similar challenges and opportunities on a daily basis. I want to thank the IBF, specifically Dr. Jain and Anish, for the impact that they have had on my life and my career. I am also grateful for the opportunities that I have had at great companies like Fujifilm, Gerber, Nestle, and Nice-Pak to create better planning environments, and to help drive energy into their cultures. I am truly passionate about Demand Planning and S&OP, and to be considered for this award is an amazing gesture….The “IBF 2014 Excellence in Planning and Forecasting Award” is voted on by other practitioners who are driving this revolution, and it is an honor for my body of work to be considered.”

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