I’m building niche supply chain planning software. Who actually buys tools like this?

I work in optimization, and as an intellectual side project I’ve been building a supply chain planning system. It is not meant to be a full ERP like SAP, Odoo, NetSuite, etc.

The idea is closer to a dedicated planning layer, something in the direction of Kinaxis / concurrent planning tools, focused on things like:

• demand and supply balancing
• inventory decisions
• production and capacity constraints
• scenario planning
• optimization across the supply chain

The part I’m struggling with is not the modeling. It’s understanding the market.

Most people I’ve spoken to say companies prefer a complete ERP where inventory, demand, production, purchasing, and finance are all integrated. That makes sense. But building a full ERP would defeat the purpose of what I’m trying to do, which is to focus deeply on planning and optimization.

So my question is:

What kind of companies actually buy standalone supply chain planning software?

For people who have worked in supply chain, operations, ERP implementation, or planning software:

• Who should I talk to if I want to better understand the industry requirements of this type of products?
• Which industries are most likely to need this?
• What pain would make them buy a separate planning tool?
• Who is usually the buyer: supply chain director, COO, planning manager, IT, finance?
• Is this only an enterprise problem, or do mid-sized companies also feel it?
• When does a company outgrow ERP-based planning?
• Any strategies for finding target customers for this type of software?

I’m not trying to pitch anything here. I’m trying to understand whether this category has real demand outside large enterprises, and what the buying trigger usually is.

Would love to hear from anyone who has bought, sold, implemented, or used tools like this.