Sales and operations planning (S&OP) is a business management process where leadership and executive teams meet to ensure each business function is aligned to balance supply and demand. To coordinate across business units, increase transparency, balance supply and demand, and to achieve profitability.1 Jul 2021
Sales and operations planning (S&OP) is a process for better matching a manufacturer's supply with demand by having the sales department collaborate with operations to create a single production plan. The broader goal is to align daily operations with corporate strategy.
What is included in S&OP?
The S&OP process includes an updated forecast that leads to a sales plan, production plan, inventory plan, customer lead time (backlog) plan, new product development plan, strategic initiative plan and resulting financial plan. Done well, the S&OP process also enables effective supply chain management.
What does a S&OP Manager do?
The S&OP Manager serves as the subject matter expert for demand planning, network optimization, and capacity planning while supporting various projects including; monthly demand plans, consumption models, network and production strategy optimization, integration of new businesses, and new product launches.
What is the S&OP cycle?
S&OP, or sales & operations planning, is a monthly integrated business management process that empowers leadership to focus on key supply chain drivers, including sales, marketing, demand management, production, inventory management, and new product introduction.
What makes a good S&OP process?
In order to balance sound business decisions to construct the best overall plan, the S&OP team must have accurate, reliable information the current status, future conditions, constraints, and concerns about demand, production, inventory, procurement, and finance.