S&OP is often pictured as a largely standard process; textbook S&OP starts with agreeing an unconstrained demand plan that is handed over to supply planning who need to ensure product availability. In case of important bottlenecks, the S&OP meeting is the final escalation step in the process, where all remaining imbalances should be resolved. ...
Many organizations have a basic S&OP process in place and now want to take the next step to integrated business planning (IBP) in order to maximize the benefits of the process. Supply Chain Media and Involvation have developed this roadmap showing typical obstacles on the path to IBP and how to overcome them. Download the Roadmap to Integrated...
Last week I had a discussion with a customer about his S&OP process, which in his view was not delivering enough value. Useful, but it did not really make the needles move and he could not get his fingers around the reasons why. The amazing thing was that in 2 minutes, we got to the core of the problem and I am happy therefore to share the...
In 2017, a lot has again been written about S&OP. One of the main topics still is how to ensure true buy-in of non-supply chain stakeholders, which is indeed a key challenge in many cases; not because they are genetically different, but because companies often fail to make clear links between S&OP and functional targets and incentives. In this...
After a number of sessions on leadership and change management in S&OP, it was time for a more technical central theme of the S&OP Professionals meeting on November 20th. Involvation facilitates these interactive sessions twice per year, aiming to exchange experiences in S&OP, learn from each other and create a peer network of S&OP...
In his brilliant book “Leading without Commanding”, Filip Vandendriessche describes how managers often create their own problems. By managing on input rather than output, they create resistance rather than buy-in. This simple observation also holds important lessons for S&OP. In a process where people make the difference, input management kills...
It will be difficult to find a manager in any professional organisation in the western world who would dare to claim that employees should not be empowered. Effective managers can get great results from their teams if they ensure that the targeted output is crystal clear, without dictating how exactly this output should be achieved. Most employees...
In our recent article Towards an effective S&OP with Stephen Covey, the power of Covey’s bestselling theory was applied to Sales & Operations Planning. We used Habit 3, “Put First Things First”, to make a high level design of an effective S&OP process. In this follow-up article, we will demonstrate that it is equally important to apply Covey’s...
Since the publication of Covey’s “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” in 1989, more than 15 million copies have passed the counter, making it one of the best selling management books ever. The seven habits that Covey describes are brilliant in their simplicity. No more than common sense, you could argue, but why the massive interest and...
Last month I visited two different clients, in both cases for delivering an S&OP Master Class, and I subsequently attended their Demand Review meetings. Always interesting, a bit of theory that is applied into practice immediately afterwards. Part of the Master Classes was a simple S&OP Maturity Scan, mainly included to make people think. What...