Dr. Rakesh Sinha
Dr. Rakesh Sinha is a seasoned global supply chain and digital transformation leader with over four decades of experience helping organizations reinvent how they sense, plan and deliver in today’s fast-moving markets. He is the Founder & CEO of Reflexive Supply Chain Solutions, where he works with manufacturers, D2C brands, and retailers to build responsive, data-driven supply chains that thrive in the era of hyper-volatility and quick commerce. Before founding Reflexive Supply Chain Solutions, Dr. Sinha held senior leadership roles including Global Head of Supply Chain, Manufacturing & IT, and Chief Digital Officer/CIO roles in a large enterprise where he led strategic initiatives in supply chain design, ERP transformation, advanced analytics, and customer-centric operations. He has helped organizations improve product availability, offer fresher products, enhance operational agility, and adopt agile forecasting and demand-driven execution practices. Dr. Sinha is also a prolific thought leader on supply chain strategy and transformation, with a strong track record on LinkedIn of guiding professionals on topics such as agile forecasting, demand sensing, supply chain agility, and the human side of supply chain work. His work blends practical field experience, systems thinking, and emerging technology insights — particularly the application of AI/ML for demand sensing, dynamic buffer targeting, and availability optimization. He frequently speaks at industry summits, including global events like the TOCICO Innovation Summit. With a compelling mix of operational leadership and strategic vision, Dr. Sinha helps bridge the gap between traditional planning mechanics and the real-time execution demands of D2C and quick commerce ecosystems.
Masternotes by Dr. Rakesh Sinha
Modern Supply Chain
Demand Sensing for D2C & Quick Commerce: From Signal to Shelf in Hours, Not Weeks.
When Demand Started Moving Faster Than Supply? For decades, demand planning was built on a comforting assumption: demand moves slower than supply. We forecast, we plan, we make inventory available, and the system absorbs small errors through buffers. That assumption quietly collapsed with the rise of D2C and quick commerce. Today, demand doesn’t wait for your planning cycle. It forms in real time, triggered by a viral reel, a micro-promotion, a weather spike, or a delivery promise shrinking from two days to ten minutes. In India, platforms promising 10–30 minute delivery have redefined not just consumer expectations, but manufacturer response expectations as well. When a quick-commerce player asks an FMCG brand, “If we deliver in 8 minutes, why do you need 2 days to replenish?”, it’s not rhetoric—it’s a structural challenge to the old operating model . This is where demand sensing moves from theory to necessity. Demand sensing is not about predicting the future better. It is about detecting what is changing right now—early enough to still do something about it. In D2C and quick commerce, that window is measured in hours and days, not weeks.
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