Sales & Operations Planning

What is Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP)?

Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) or Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is a formal process led by senior management that, on a monthly  basis, reviews  and updates  plans for demand, supply, and product development and the resulting financials. It is a decision-making process that drives the tactical plans for ALL business functions  into alignment with your long-term business plan.

What are the Objectives of S&OP?

  • Reach agreement on a single operating plan for the business that is fully aligned with the company’s long-term business plan and strategies.
  • Ongoing alignment of all departmental plans with the single operating plan.
  • Identifying and resolving supply and demand issues far enough in the future so they don’t become a crisis.
  • Identifying and addressing gaps in achieving the company's business objectives.

Who has implemented S&OP?

• 92% of Fortune 500 companies and big businesses

What are the Benefits of S&OP?

  • Aligns the operating plan to the long-term business plan.
  • Synchronizes all departments / functions plans – one plan to run the business.
  • Maximizes the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire organization.
  • Improved decision-making related to addressing demand and supply issues and risks.
  • Creates a culture of strategic planning vs. firefighting.
  • Improved growth achievement, profitability, and customer service.
  • Improved forecast accuracy, inventory optimization, and resource utilization.

5 Questions that should be answered by each S&OP cycle

  • How are we currently performing?
  • What has changed since the last S&OP cycle and why?
  • Is our plan sufficient to meet our performance targets?
  • Is our plan realistic?
  • What decisions need to be made?

Our Implementation Approach

Training – We teach you what S&OP is supposed to look like.
RACI – Define who does what and who is accountable.
Define the Planning Levels – Define all Product Families / Sub-Families and their SKU’s.
Define the framework for the process.

  • Process Steps (Product Planning, Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Integrated Reconciliation, Management Business Review
  • Meeting Agendas
  • S&OP Calendar
  • Inputs / Outputs for each process step

One Plan - Ensure there is just one plan to run the business to avoid any conflicting numbers.
Metrics - Define metrics and KPI’s to review during each process step.
Decision Making - Ensure each process step focuses on what decisions need to be made and when.
Templates - We bring templates for each process step to jump start the process.
Data – We evaluate data integrity and develop a plan to address any issues.
Change Management - Develop a change management plan to ensure the new process has support from all key stakeholders.
Continuous Improvement – Build in an ongoing process review.

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