S&OP software to predict the future
An S&OP software helps with predictions of future demand, sales, and — you guessed it — operations.
How?
By combining input coming from both sales and operations.
The purpose of S&OP is to synchronize sales and operations (and ultimately, everything else in your business). S&OP is the connection between the information coming from sales and the information coming from operations.
That way, you will ensure the availability of materials while maintaining a low stock — the optimal solution for every supply chain.
However, the first step is acknowledging that a change needs to happen.
Why Choose PERITO as your Provider of S&OP Software?
The S&OP Process
An S&OP process is an integrated management process enabling you to focus on the main supply chain drivers. These drivers should come from all aspects/all areas of your business, but should as a minimum include your key planning activities e.g. demand planning, supply planning and financial forecasting.
Using S&OP software ultimately enables better decision-making by connecting strategic plans and operations across your business.
How does an S&OP process play out?
For the sake of this article, companies can be broadly placed into one of two categories:
- Result-oriented company: These companies already know their delivery performance numbers and have an established goal of improvements in the most critical areas. This type of company has a KPI business case approach to the S&OP process.
- Process and module-oriented company: These companies seek a fix-gap solution for specific parts of their supply chain. They have pinpointed problem areas in their supply chain that need to be fixed now.
Either way, to move forward, it is not enough to acknowledge your goals or issues with your operational planning; you need to recognize the extent of those issues.
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Issues with Operational Planning
Acknowledging there is an issue is only the first step. The extended acknowledgement is that it is rarely an isolated issue.
So, we often start by companies making an initial diagnosis, pinpointing where in the supply chain they believe the issue is located.
This information is then used as a starting point for the deeper analysis. The result is often that the issues can often be traced back through the entire supply chain.
This means that the cure is rarely a stop-gap solution in one specific area.
The first thing to acknowledge in an S&OP process is that your entire supply chain needs a check-up and an upgrade. Secondly, you need to look at your S&OP cycle.
A Better Solution Than Only the Monthly S&OP Cycle
People sometimes think that to achieve a good S&OP process, they only need a monthly overall S&OP cycle overseeing their demand planning, supply planning and financial forecasting.
This is not necessarily true.
A monthly S&OP cycle sounds good on paper. However, fitting everything within a process, including pre-S&OP and executive S&OP meetings, sometimes lacks the daily operational changes that allow you to act fast -when needed.
Instead, an S&OP process should also focus on creating an “engine-level” for your business to act fast.
What do we mean by an engine-level?
We mean the detailed level of your operation where we focus on automating everything classified as “business as usual” and acting on the exceptions on a daily or weekly cycle. In other words, we’re referring to an automation of your supply chain.
This way you get an overall planning level in the setting the direction and an operational level that act on urgent matters – all summed up in the overall S&OP software.
Do you want to prepare your supply chain for automation?
Don't Just Take Our Word For It
PERITO proved to be outstanding at identifying a robust S&OP solution that balances our current maturity levels with our goals for improved S&OP planning. In the supply chain domain, it is rare to come across consultants of this caliber who think end-to-end and have the skillset to implement solutions that seamlessly integrate people, technology and processes.
Steen Winkler, Head of SIOP, Business Unit Service, Vestas Wind Systems A/S
… We chose PERITO for their Managed Services. PERITO is now responsible for managing all statistical areas of our demand planning that requires expert statistical skills. Having PERITO specialists to support enables us to provide more precise forecasts – and thus build trust in the planning process across the organization and among retail partners. Through our partnership with PERITO, we can leverage our core competencies much better and improve our collaboration with the global sales organization …
Jacob Frederiksen, Sr. Director, Planning & Operation, Bang & Olufsen
…Boiled down to its essence, our IT Vendor Selection for IBP Software contained benchmarks across 12 different Software vendors. We examined features and functionalities across all IT vendors and compiled fundamental considerations into a Software Advice Vendor Scorecard. PERITO won the IT Vendor selection because they met and understood our requirements regarding how to balance Demand Planning and Planning of capacity(3M)
Birgit Thomsen, Board Member, DINEX
Empower supply chain transparency through PERITO IBP 360° Solution
S&OP Planning and Language Barriers
A common issue in S&OP planning is language barriers. More specifically, we mean the language barrier between sales and operations.
They are working with a different level of information and a different focus in their daily operation. This means they cannot give you the information you need and sometimes find it hard to cooperate.
The job of an S&OP manager is therefore to translate the language coming from production so that sales can understand it and vice versa. This translation is the first step to making high performance S&OP possible.
Companies also struggle with communication barriers because they need better communication and data setups. They need a setup that holds the entire S&OP Process and communication.
S&OP: A Process or a Tool?
A common discussion in the world of supply chain management is whether S&OP should be categorized as a process or a tool.
In our view, the truth is somewhere in-between.
Some consultants would argue it is 10% tool and 90% process. According to us at Perito, it should be closer to a 50/50 split.
If you do not have the tools to handle the process and automation, then you will not be able to reach the end goal, and vice versa.
Without equal emphasis on both process and tool, S&OP becomes all talk and no action. Or equally as damaging, it becomes just action without any alignment between departments.
Consequently, good S&OP should focus on both tools and communication.