Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP)

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SCM Services

Balance between supply and demand

Sales and operations planning (S&OP) is the central process that helps to find the balance between supply and demand while achieving a company's financial and operational goals.

If supply and demand are out of balance, there will either be excess stock, as available products are not purchased, or customers will migrate, as requested products are not available. Both have a direct impact on the company's profitability and financial strength - not to mention possible recourse claims.

An efficient, cross-divisional S&OP process offers many advantages in this context:

‍Fasterresponse to market changes: Changes are recognized earlier and the integrated process enables a faster, coordinated response. The effect of risks on the company can thus be mitigated.
‍Improvedcommunication and collaboration: Cross-departmental communication and collaboration, e.g. between sales, marketing, production and purchasing, is intensified and, above all, operationalized. Silo thinking is overcome and a common understanding of the company's goals is achieved.
‍Optimizedinventory management: Companies are supported in optimizing their inventories by reducing safety stocks, lowering storage costs and increasing product availability at the same time.
‍Improvedcapacity planning: Better utilization of production capacities and resources is made possible by linking production planning more closely to market demand and identifying potential bottlenecks or overcapacities at an early stage.
‍Supportfor decision-making: S&OP provides the basis for analyses and flexible simulations for decision-making at all levels of the company, from management to operational teams.

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Our SCM experts will be happy to support you in creating the basis for an efficient, future-proof supply chain with optimized processes. Our proven S&OP reference process and tried-and-tested best-practice templates ensure your rapid success. Our tip: Start with our S&OP workshop to get started right away!

To the workshop

The Control Tower makes it possible to identify anomalies in demand and bottlenecks in procurement at a glance and provides the ideal basis for taking appropriate measures.

The S&OP process at a glance

Our services for you

S&OP Assessment

Join our experts in a gap-fit workshop to shed light on your SCM processes and uncover weak points and optimization potential.

S&OP reference process

Establish a robust planning process. Benefit from our S&OP reference process and access proven best-practice templates.

Data integration

The availability and quality of data are critical for accurate forecasting and decision-making in the S&OP process. Usually, the data is located in the underlying ERP system of a company. The problem, however, is that additional sources always have to be connected, be it other central systems or other ERP systems of national companies or even suppliers or customers, in order to achieve the highest possible level of integration, even beyond the company itself. With our colleagues from the Data Engineering team, there are no technical limits to what we can do. As long as data is available digitally, we can get it integrated and harmonized.

Implementation

The complexity of an S&OP process cannot be mastered without dedicated tools. A software solution (not Excel!) is therefore required that is capable of mapping the complex interrelationships of the supply chain end-to-end, right down to the underlying product and BOM structures.

It must also be possible to run through short-term changes in the form of simulations, which is only possible with response times in near real time. Various scenarios need to be created and compared in order to make the final decision. In view of the fast-moving business environment, planning processes and software solutions must therefore remain agile and flexible in order to be able to react to changes. We have some of the leading providers of planning software in our portfolio. We implement the software, assist with change management and provide support during subsequent operation.

Forecasting / Optimization

The integration of forecasting models based on artificial intelligence or machine learning can significantly improve the S&OP process. However, forecasting demand is a complex task that is influenced by numerous factors such as market conditions, seasonal fluctuations and geopolitical events.

The forecasting models and methods must therefore be parameterized correctly and continuously reviewed and updated in order to achieve greater accuracy and responsiveness. Our data science team has extensive experience in this area and integrates and parameterizes the models in such a way that optimal results are possible.

Our services for you

Supply Chain Planning & Simulation

Recent years have shown how complex and vulnerable supply chains are - especially when disruptions suddenly occur. See how you can make the right decisions quickly with the help of multidimensional planning and simulation using concrete examples in our 5-minute demo: