SALES AND OPERATIONS PLANNING
An in-depth look at S & OP - the six steps for success , four best practices , and keys to unlock next-gen S & OP within your business operations
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& OP may sound like a jargon-laced acronym that threatens to clutter up your streamlined supply chain . Yet in its essence , it ’ s quite simple : it ’ s an integrated monthly process that helps you manage your business in the midst of changing times . Instead of struggling to keep sales and marketing , demand and inventory , and product introduction on the same page-a Herculean challenge-introducing a strong sales and operations planning process provides you with a quick snapshot of where your supply chain is at .
Christine Barnhart , Director of Go-to-Marketing Strategy and Execution at Infor , told Supply Chain Digital that “ Sales & Operations Planning ( S & OP ) has been around since the early 1990s , but its definition has changed over the years . Depending on the book that you ’ re reading , the process is defined in many different , often over-engineered , ways .”
Barnhart adds that “ perhaps the clearest definition is courtesy of Tom Wallace , who describes it as ‘ a set of decision-making processes to balance
JANUARY 2021