Supply Chain Movement Q1 2012 – S&OP Special

Contents

3 | Column: Holy Grail of ERP and S&OP

7 | News & Background: Recruit the ‘yes’ gene

‘Details count. So make yourself stand out’ said Innocent Drinks founder, Richard Reed. Jokes on packaging, grass covered promotion vans and eccentric advertising all help to ensure that people remember you.

9 | Gartner presents its S&OP maturity model

The step required to transition from anticipating to collaborating within Sales & Operations Planning is a large one. That was the conclusion drawn from a local session organised by analysts Gartner in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on 15th November 2011, where Tim Payne, Research Director at Gartner, presented the various stages of maturity of an S&OP process.

10 | Profile Marnix Tax at Sara Lee

In the twenty years that Marnix Tax has worked at Sara Lee, he has been a part of intensive corporate integration as well as witness to the enterprise´s latest plans for Douwe Egberts. “We have made such widespread and significant improvements over the years that we have established firm foundations for the supply chain on which to build an autonomous coffee and tea division.” There is no doubt in this European Director of Supply Chain Development & Value Stream’s mind that the hard work has paid off.

16 | Roundtable S&OP and forecasting

Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) is a multi-disciplinary process in which the various business disciplines work together in attempting to balance forecast demand levels and manufacturing volumes. In view of a shift in focus from unequivocal operational excellence to integral business optimisation, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the supply chain manager – who is traditionally responsible for S&OP – to align these two aspects. How are various companies approaching this in The Netherlands? And which factors are holding them back in the growth process?

20 | SCM IT Subway Map 3.5

22 | Management article S&OP: Mind the gaps

One-way transmission has the upper hand in many companies. The sales department fulfils its duty by issuing a forecast every month, and then it’s up to supply chain colleagues to see how they go about meeting the demand. There’s no sign of interaction, let alone integrated decision-making. Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) is intended to change all that. The art is to identify – and close – the gaps between demand, supply and financial planning. Many companies claim they are working on S&OP, but to what extent?

31 | Facts & Figures S&OP and IT

32 | Supply Chain Mindmapping S&OP

As a result of increasing volatility in demand many companies are busy implementing Sales & Operations Planning. They try to get beyond balancing forecasted demand and manufacturing volumes and incorporate financial budgets and business scenario. What should companies consider to get to a next level in S&OP? Supply chain consultancy Involvation and Supply Chain Movement created a comprehensive mindmap to give a practical overview of all the aspects to consider for improving S&OP.

35 | Tools & Technology: coping with unpredictability, in-house S&OP game

36 | Case study: Handling volatile demand at Electrocomponents

The recent global economic crisis was the impetus for Electrocomponents, one of the world’s leading high service distributors of electronics and maintenance products, to transform its supply chain planning and honour its remarkable service promise.