Guest Author: Steven Walter, Sr. Manager of Consulting at enVista
Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) is a data-driven, cross-functional process that brings together people, process and technology to provide a framework for aligning strategy cross-functionally throughout a company. Successful S&OP assumes data is accurate and accessible, and sub-processes are defined and primed for enhanced collaboration. While most if not all companies can benefit from S&OP, there is significant preparation to be done on supply chain fundamentals before jumping into implementation.
Based on years of first-hand experience, enVista’s supply chain consultants have compiled a comprehensive list of questions to review with your core team of supply chain business process owners. Having an honest and transparent discussion about your current state based on these questions will prepare you for a successful S&OP implementation. Identifying a gap in one of these areas does not mean you should not pursue S&OP, but instead will help you preempt potential issues in your implementation to increase your chances of long-term S&OP success.
S&OP Readiness Self-Assessment
- Is your executive leadership aware of and on board with S&OP as a concept?
Without support at the highest level of your company (president/CEO), you are unlikely to receive the resources you need to implement and sustain a successful S&OP process. It is also unlikely that the broader organization will prioritize S&OP without leadership involvement. Increase executive alignment and engagement by initiating conversations well before implementation begins and illustrating how S&OP will help leadership achieve company-wide goals.
- Do you feel your teams (demand, supply, etc.) are working with each other toward the same goals?
It is very common for planning teams to get dialed into their tactical metrics (forecast accuracy, inventory days on hand, production costs, etc.) and lose sight of the upstream and downstream impacts of their decisions. A healthy S&OP process will reduce siloed thinking across teams, which can be jarring and lead to pushback without the proper preparation. If this sounds like your team, start with small changes and increase awareness of the up- and downstream impacts of everyone’s actions. Focus on communicating the need to drive toward company success rather than individual success and review the incentive structure to make sure you are not inadvertently driving people toward their old behaviors.
- Do your demand and supply teams have significant relevant experience?
Having strong functional expertise is always helpful, but it is particularly important when undergoing a change as large as an S&OP implementation. If you feel your team is less experienced than desired, consider bringing in outside support for implementation and process redesign to allow your team to maintain focus on day-to-day responsibilities.
- Does your team collaborate well with the sales, marketing and/or finance teams?
Depending on an organization’s structure, experience level and other outside factors, collaboration between planning and non-supply chain functions can vary widely. S&OP will try to bring these “outside” groups closer to supply chain and operations, so if these groups are not already collaborating, start building a line of communication ahead of time before it is forced by S&OP.
- Does your team collaborate with external partners (vendors, customers, etc.)?
External collaboration is generally a longer-term goal with an S&OP implementation, targeted after companies reach maturity 3-4, so it is helpful to lay the groundwork as early as possible. External partners are not likely to advance from little to no collaboration to integrated systems and processes that are expected by higher maturity S&OP. Begin by engaging with external partners and sharing information to start building up stronger relationships. This early work will pay dividends after your S&OP process is implemented and stable.
- Is your team used to discussing potential issues 3-9 months into the future?
S&OP at its core is meant to be a mid- to long-term strategic planning tool, meaning most discussions will take place about 3 to 18 months in the future. This can be an adjustment to teams that are constantly firefighting and are accustomed to looking out 3-18 days in advance, rather than months. To avoid future headaches, start encouraging teams to occasionally look 3-6 months out, continuing to stretch that timeline until it becomes normal practice for your group.
- Do you track and report key planning metrics (Fill rate, manufacturing adherence, days of inventory, etc.) at detailed and aggregate levels?
Data and KPIs are the building blocks of successful S&OP. While S&OP is forward-focused, a brief review of past performance is encouraged to drive the team to continuous improvement. It is beneficial for your group to have experience reviewing key S&OP metrics at various levels of aggregation so they can get the most benefit out of the process once it is up and running.
- Do you have 8-12 product families with links to both demand and supply hierarchies?
S&OP is a process performed at aggregated levels. To do this effectively, you need to have the right S&OP categories in place to summarize these SKUs. Defining these groups can easily be completed in the design/explore phase of your S&OP implementation but convincing your team and other collaborators to fully utilize these categories is another story. If you do not already have a good hierarchy to work into S&OP, be sure to consider external groups like sales, marketing and operations and their common language to increase the likelihood of adoption.
- Can you easily access sales, production, forecast and other base S&OP/planning data?
One of the goals of S&OP is to foster data-driven decision making. To do this effectively you need to be able to easily access accurate data to update spreadsheets and charts that will drive S&OP discussion. There are many ways to accomplish this. You do not need expensive systems to have good data, but you will need to do the work to cleanse and validate any data before starting to use it in your S&OP implementation. Nothing can further derail progress on a tool or process more than inaccurate data creating distrust in the numbers.
- Do you have an item level forecast and the ability to aggregate to a product family level 12-18 months into the future?
Detailed and aggregate forecasts are the starting points for S&OP and sales and operations execution (S&OE) activities. Without the ability to view and adjust forecasts at item and S&OP family levels, you will miss out on key benefits that are expected with S&OP. Establishing core subprocesses and data flows before implementation will help you realize all desired improvements from S&OP.
- Can you view and adjust inventory and supply targets at some aggregate level other than plant?
Like forecasts, successful S&OP relies on the ability to review and adjust an aggregate supply plan and then cascade those revisions down to detailed levels. If any of those links are missing, you may not be able to act on the decisions made as part of S&OP.
- Is your team prepared to put focus and energy into an S&OP implementation over the 9-12 months?
An S&OP implementation is a massive undertaking for your organization. While you may only have 3-6 “pilot” cycles to launch the process, we typically suggest companies plan for 9-12 months to fully implement S&OP. Even after implementation, continuous improvement to the process is critical to long-term S&OP success. To be successful, your organization and your team must be prepared to devote the required resources.
While this may all feel overwhelming, remember you do not have to go at it alone. enVista’s consultants have been in your shoes and can help you assess, design and execute all prerequisites to successful S&OP, alleviating effort and responsibility from you and your busy team. It is never too late to reestablish your supply chain foundations and set yourself up for S&OP excellence. Let’s Have a Conversation.®
