Sales & Operations Planning:: A Guide For The Supply Chain Leader

SALES &
OPERATIONS Lore Cecere
PLANNING:
Founder and CEO
Supply Chain Insights, LLC
Regina Denman
Client Service Director
A Guide For The Supply

Supply Chain Insights LLC
Chain Leader
Avoiding The Pitfalls

and Potholes of S&OP
Implementation During the
Pandemic
2 2020 // SALES & OPERATIONS PLANNING
TA B LE OF CO NTENTS
5 9
Disclosure //4 S&OP Pre-Pandemic

State // 11
Executive Summary //5
Shifts in the Pandemic // 14
What Is Sales and Operations
Planning? // 6 What Does Good Look Like? // 15
Below the Line Planning // 8
Definitions Matter //9

Balance Their Primary S&OP Process
SALES & OPERATIONS PLANNING // 2020 3
Balanced
More focused
between the
on the OP
S and the OP
36%
41%
ly balancing plans horizontally The process is
een the sales/marketing teams out of balance with
and the operations teams an emphasis on operations
(logistics, manufacturing, and
15
procurement)
24
57%
out of balance
______________________________
Operations Study (Mar-May, 2019)
7) 22
to balance the “S” and the “OP” in the evolution of your [primary] S&OP process (even if you call it
ocess with which they are personally most familiar
9, p. 13
Driving Process Maturity // 18 Summary // 23
Why Is S&OP So Hard? // 19 Navigatingthe Technology

Provider Landscape // 24
Selecting the Right Technology // 20
Appendix // 36
Reccomendations // 23
Other Reports in This Series // 38
OPEN CONTENT RESEARCH
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is to share research widely to improve supply chain performance. You are
welcome to share this data freely within your company and across your industry.
All we ask for in return is attribution when you use the materials in this report. We
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In this report, we use past research and insights to provide a handbook for supply
chain leaders aligning teams and managing supply chains through the COVID-19
pandemic. To complete this report, we worked through four steps:
• Technology Briefings: In the period of January-March 2019, Supply Chain Insights

interviewed technology leaders and their references to gain an understanding of
their approach to improving Sales & Operations Planning. Since this time, we have
followed implementations in the market, gaining insights from business leaders and
consultants. Not all technology companies participated in the briefings. The lack of
participation did not exclude the Company from the report. We rate companies not
participating in the interview process based on insights from client experiences and
reference interviews from our database.
• Quantitative Assessment: In parallel, we fielded and completed a quantitative

survey to understand the maturity of processes in 2019. Over one-hundred business
leaders completed the quantitative study to understand S&OP satisfaction
• Business User Interviews: We interviewed more than fifty business users and
followed their deployments through the 2019 calendar year.
• Technology/Software Document Review: To ensure factual accuracy, we shared

the technology summary contained in this report to ensure factual accuracy before
publication. Of the vendors listed, 75% voluntarily participated in vendor briefings
and reference calls. For those that did not openly participate, we interviewed
companies in our reference database to gain insights.
DISCLOSURE
Your trust is important to us. In our business, we are open and transparent about our
financial relationships and research processes. Also, we never share the names of
respondents or give attribution to the open comments collected in the research. This
research was 100% funded by the Supply Chain Insights team.
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) results, when
done well, are unarguable. In normal business conditions,
the return on investment for S&OP implementation is
seven months. There is also a correlation between S&OP
maturity and value (Price-to-Tangible Book Value (PTBV)).
In the pandemic, S&OP increases in importance.

The journey is tough. The average manufacturing
Company has been working on improving S&OP
for more than seven years, yet in 2019, only 38% of
companies in 2019 were satisfied with their processes.
Change management issues, dirty data, and inadequate
technology deployments riddle progress.
With this compelling value proposition, why are

companies stuck unable to power value? And, how
do processes need to change to manage through
these new and uncertain times? The barriers and
obstacles are deeply rooted in organizational change
management. Driving progress requires a focus on
change management and process redesign. Technology
is necessary, but not sufficient. The work effort is 60%
change management, 30% process definition and 10%
technology implementation.
Technology is needed to orchestrate the process, but

technology without change management is insufficient.
Working through political nuances is where most
companies get stuck. The discussions become political Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) is a cross-functional
and emotional, derailing the efforts to drive change process to align commercial and operations teams to drive
and align process redefinition. While there are many value. The processes focus on monthly and weekly planning with
technologies, the market is confusing, and 45% of a focus on improving planning on a tactical time horizon.
selections are poor fits for the business problem.
• Lack
What Is Sales
of Discipline on Focused Improvement: The
best processes start the cycle by reviewing customer
a n d O p e ra t i o n s service data and analyzing the root cause of order

failures. The process then evaluates the value-added
Pl a n n i n g ? contribution of the prior period plan to the business.

The inclusion of an after-action review process helps
to drive improvement for the next period.
S&OP is a tactical business process to align commercial
(sales and marketing) and operations (customer service, While tactical planning horizons will vary in time
manufacturing, procurement, and transportation) teams frames by industry—ten weeks to eighteen months in
to execute effectively. Success is dependent on strategy consumer products and thirteen weeks to five years in
clarity and the alignment of metrics to drive business pharmaceuticals—an effective S&OP planning process is
outcomes. For example, an efficient supply chain (lowest never focused on the short-term results within the month
cost/case) is not necessarily the most effective design. (or planning period). For clarity, working definitions of
time horizons include:
In the pandemic, there is a need for a responsive supply
chain (shortest cycle) or an agile supply chain (same • Strategic Time Horizon/Network Design: A longer-
reaching planning period covering months and years
cost, quality, and customer service given the level of
supply and demand disruption. Each definition is a used to design asset and transportation strategies.
different supply chain mental model requiring design, The best S&OP processes use the output of network
metrics alignment, and organizational education. design as an input to the S&OP processes.
To drive value, process discipline within planning time • Tactical Horizon: The planning period of weeks and
months stretching from order/inventory matching
horizons matters. S&OP is a tactical process. What does
this mean? The focus of an S&OP planning process is to the planning of aggregate material contracts
on the mid-to-long range planning period, while S&OP and asset strategies. In this period, the focus is on
execution processes align operations within the shorter building a feasible plan by recognizing constraints in
duration of the order cycle and the slush period . Three the development of planned orders. There are two
common mistakes are: types of planning technologies—material and asset-
centric. The right technology is needed to produce a
• Reactive and Short-term Focus: A common mistake

for companies is a focus on the short-term duration
feasible plan.
within the slush period throwing the supply chain out • Operational Time Horizon/Slush Period: The
time horizon of order and inventory matching.
of balance.
Connecting supply chain planning to S&OP execution
• Role of the Budget: The second mistake, as will be

seen in this report, is the lack of clarity of the role of
to planning—translation of a longer-focused plan
to operational management in days and weeks—is
the financial budget. While leaders use the budget as critical to drive results and align the supply chain
a process input, laggards tightly integrate the budget. in the COVID-19 pandemic. The slush period sits
Within the short-term duration of S&OP execution, between the order duration period and the tactical
process excellence hinges on the clear definition period. The slush period is the time horizon for S&OP
of the supply chain forecast, the role of the budget, execution—applying the S&OP plan from prior periods
and the use of insights from the sales pipeline to ensure better business results.
management process.
line” and S&OP processes “above the line.” (The term “line”
• Executional Period/Order Duration: In this period,

the process focuses on shipping the order—the time
is industry slang for the S&OP executive review meeting.)
The larger and more complex the company, the greater
from confirming the order for customer delivery. The the need for process definition on these two important,
order cycle times vary by industry: it averages one yet complementary process areas.
day in consumer electronics, 2.7 days in consumer
products, and weeks/months in discrete industries. In a recent discussion with a food and beverage
manufacturer of the research results for this report, the
Supply chain planning is a combination of analytics, comment was, “Over the past decade, we have made
optimization engines, workflows, and rules. In Figure more progress above the line than below the line in the
1, the optimization engines are shown in boxes (while development of S&OP. Work below the line on S&OP has
the arrows highlight the workflows.). In the design of become messier and more difficult with the increase in
the process, there is a need for process definition and business complexity.” We find this observation consistent
technologies to execute the S&OP planning “below the in our interviews.
FIGURE 1. Supply Chain Planning Technology Architectures
SELL DELIVER MAKE SOURCE TYPE

NETWORK Network Plan SUPPLY PLAN
DESIGN
Above the Line
Sales and Operations Planning Planning
TACTICAL Demand Aggregate
COMMITTED Supply Plan CONSTRAINED
PLANNING Planning FORECAST PLAN Buying
PLANNED ORDERS
CONSUMPTION
Distribution Material Below the Line

Production
Planning (DRP) Requirements Planning
Demand Planning
Planning
OPERATIONAL Sensing PLANNED (MRP)
PLANNING Inventory RECEIPTS
SAFETY Optimization
STOCK PLANNED
(MEIO)
SHIPMENTS
Order
Deployment Execution
Management Manufacturing
Systems
EXECUTIONAL Execution
APPOINTMENT Systems INBOUND
PLANNING SHIPMENTS
ATP/Allocation Transportation
Planning
Bel o w t h e Li n e P lanning
In Figure 2, we show an example of a company flow to consider financial input, but not tightly coupling
successfully building capabilities on both above the line finance and supply chain flows. While there is a need for
and below the line planning processes. The management cross-functional visibility of different types of forecasts,
team review (MT) in step 4 is based on a disciplined “integration” is a mistake.
FIGURE 2. An Example of Business Leader Working Above and Below the Line Planning Processes
COMMERICAL PLANNING SUPPLY PLANNING
1: Demand Review
-Sales Director-
Finance Integration
Revenue/Cost/Margin
0: Business Building Gaps bs Business Targets 2: Supply Review
-Revenue Mgt.- Scenarios & Decisions -Supply Chain Dir.-
ONE Platform & Data Source
Rolling Forecasts
4: MT Review 3: Alignment
-General Manager- -Finance Director-
Monthly Cycle
Weekly Cycle
Demand and
Supply Meeting
SCENARIO MANAGEMENT FINANCIAL INTEGRATION

DEFINITIONS
MATTER The term Integrated Business Planning(IBP) is
often used interchangeably with the phrase S&OP.
The differences between S&OP and IBP are often a
What Is the Difference Between Integrated Business Planning nuance. For some organizations it is the connection
(IBP) and Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP)? The term of sales, financial and supply chain planning to drive
Integrated Business Planning (IBP), introduced into the market a common plan, but for others it is S&OP maturity.
in 2005 by Oliver Wight, is bandied about by many consultants Here we define IBP as a more mature form of S&OP.
and technologists without a consistent definition. For some, it
is the connection of sales, finance, and supply chain processes,
while others view it as a more mature process variant of S&OP.
The difference is more than a nuance.
When companies view IBP as the connection of sales,

financial, and supply chain data, problems arise. The reason?
The data models and data definitions of sales, financial, and
supply chain planning do not naturally align. Unfortunately,
the only commonality is the term planning. As a result, the
concept of “connecting” enterprise data between functions
is fools play. Do not attempt to integrate the three forecasts.
The context of the data is different. The answer? Synchronize
and harmonize the data using visualization technologies
to model the impacts of the assumptions across the three
types of plans. In Table 1, to help with the synchronization/
harmonization efforts, we explain the differences.
SALES FINANCE SUPPLY CHAIN

DATA DEFINITION Pipeline opportunity for future Currency view at a high-level Volume view of market
sales: the contract value of aggregation of a demand potential at the most granular
sales account teams. hierarchy. level of shipping.
PLANNING LEVEL Customer/location data to Category or brand level An item at a shipping location.
enable the modeling of a ship- forecasting at a currency level. The modeling is a ship from
to-model definition. model.
FOCUS A focus on customer Controlling costs and Maximizing customer service

opportunity and pipeline managing profitability. through the production of a
management. feasible plan.
TABLE 1. Commonalities and Differences Between Sales, Finance and Supply Chain Planning
When viewed as a level of maturity, IBP is level three

of the five-level maturity model. Outside-in processes In this evolution, there is a progression from integration
focused on consumption, and market data will always to interoperability. As companies increase their S&OP
trump enterprise processes in driving value. The need for competency, the focus is on data synchronization of
outside-in processes increases with the unprecedented market data and the bi-directional orchestration of
volatility of the pandemic. plans market-to-market. (The focus is bi-directional
orchestration of price, mix and volume options from
The first three steps of maturity shown in Figure 3 are a the customer to the supplier).
progression of enterprise planning. The last two represent
the building of outside-in processes to deliver network The shift from an enterprise focus to a more mature
deployment. In the design of outside-in processes in network model usually requires the reimplementation
maturity levels four and five, the focus is on the use of of S&OP. The redeployment is necessary to use channel
market data (consumption data from the market) and data in demand planning and to build playbooks
the translation of plans to suppliers. The movement to store and use what-if analysis. For this reason,
from demand planning based on historical order data to many companies are exploring the use of digital twin
modeling consumption data requires a redeployment of modeling options. We highlight the fit of software
planning. solutions to support this model transition in the
technology section of this report.
FIGURE 3. Overview of the S&OP Maturity Model Used in this Report
Sales Driven Business-planning Driven

Match Demand Greater Benefit
Coordination of Plans -Growth
with Supply
-Resilience
-Efficiency
cus Insid
rk Fo e-
o O
tw
ut
Ne
Ne
wo
-In
de
t
rk F i
oc u s O uts
Manufacturing Driven Demand Driven Market Driven

Deliver a Feasible Sense and Orchestrate Demand
Plan of Operations Shape Demand Market to Market
S&OP PRE-PANDEMIC
STATE
Over the recent decade, S&OP effectiveness declined. Shown in We are continually surprised by the number of clients
Figure 4 is the aggregate sentiment of business leaders on the with flawed implementations. Successful S&OP
efficacy of S&OP processes in 2019 versus the performance programs require training and alignment of executive
of the same peer group in 2016. The reason for degradation? leadership. Change management is the linchpin.
For some, the decline is due to shifts in business—increase in
supply chain complexity, globalization, mergers & acquisition, Unless forced to act, organizations struggle to
and changes in business models-- but for most, it is the inability define goals, processes, and measurements to
to navigate the potholes and pitfalls of process evolution. overcome the barriers of functional excellence.
Overcoming this challenge requires alignment and
leadership. External consultants cannot bridge a
Satisfaction is Declining
gap in internal leadership.
FIGURE 4. Comparison of Perceived S&OP Processes in 2019 versus 2016
Effectiveness of Primary S&OP Process* Comparison of current State of S& OP three

years ago
Not Not effective, 8%

effective
22%
Neutral
28%
Neutral
44%
Effective
31%
65%
rate their
35% current
rate their state of
Effective
30% primary
Extremely effective, S&OP
34%
S&OP
process as
Extremely effective, 5%
____________________________________________________________________
Source: Supply Chain Insights LLC, Sales & Operations Study (Mar-May, 2019)
Base: HAVE A S&OP PROCESS -- Total (n=107)
Q11. When compared to your peer companies, how would you rate the effectiveness of your [primary]
S&OP process? SCALE: 1=Not at all effective, 5=Extremely effective
Q13: When you compare your current state of S&OP, how does it compare to the process three years
ago? SCALE: 1=Not at all effective, 5=Much more effective
*NOTE: Respondents answered for the S&OP process with which they are personally most familiar
Supply Chain Insights LLC Copyright © 2019, p. 10
The easiest way to alleviate this issue is the shift from

Shown in Figure 5 are the gaps in initial functional to cross-functional metrics.
implementations. Despite the fact that over 90% of
manufacturing companies greater than 1B$ have The focus of this report is to give answers to pitfalls
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), one of the main and potholes. The most significant issues happen in
issues is getting to data. The issues include data evolution after implementation. A pitfall is a trap or
governance, cleanliness, and latency. Tackle this issue hidden danger that is not easily recognized by the
by putting a data guru from your organization on the team team. In contrast, a pothole is an issue or a series
and building a planning master database to manage the of events that drive a gradual process degradation.
important elements like lead times, conversion rates, cycle Both are challenges for the S&OP leadership team.
times, alternate bill of materials, and location mapping. Gradually, S&OP processes degrade based on the
Make data cleansing and rationalization an ongoing task potholes and pitfalls shown in Table 2.
as part of the S&OP cycle.
Most
Politics and Common Challenge with S&OP Implementation
The second largest gap is organizational alignment.
emotional issues undermine results. The
Is Getting to Right Data in Timely Fashion

answer? Build a cross-functional guiding coalition.
FIGURE 5. Gaps in Initial Implementations
Challenges with Initial S&OP Process Implementation

36% challenges on average
Difficulty getting to the right data in a timely fashion 58% Most Common
Lack of support from other functions 54%

Not having technologies that support the process 51%
Lack of understanding and support from the… 43%
Lack of clarity on how to make a decision 42%
Lack of skilled resources 42%
Issues with the role of finance and the budget 37%
Poor execution of the S&OP plan 36%
Lack of clarity of supply chain strategy and supply… 33%
Lack of time to execute the process 28%
Other 6%
Don't know 6%
____________________________________________________________________
Q28. Thinking about when your [former] S&OP process was first implemented, what were the challenges that your company encountered with the
implementation? Please select all that apply.

POTHOLES PITFALLS
Degradation of Planning Engine Effectiveness Strategy Alignment
Training and Skill Dilution The Role of the Budget
Management of Planning Master Data Organizational Governance
Clarity of Process Definitions Process Discipline and Clarity of Roles
Shifts in Leadership Measurement Systems
TABLE 2. Commonalities and Differences Between Sales, Finance and Supply Chain Planning
Report Definitions:
• Bullwhip: Amplification and distortion of demand across functional silos.
• Demand Sensing: The translation of sales within markets with zero latency and bullwhip.
• Harmonization: The translation of data across functions for elements like eaches,
equivalent units, item nomenclature, and location data.
• Orchestration: Bi-directional trade-offs of functional alternatives to develop the best plan.
• Planning Master Data: The elements that form the basis of the planning output. This
includes alternate sourcing, cycle times, conversion rates, cost profile data, and lead
times.
• Synchronization: The bringing together of systems and processes operating with different
cycles and time horizons.
SHIFTS IN THE PANDEMIC
Until there is a vaccine or an effective treatment for COVID-19,

supply chain leaders face constant market disruption. The
• Design for Remote Workers: Plan for the S&OP
processes to be conducted virtually. Focus on ease of
market turbulence makes S&OP more critical and requires a use and improved bandwidth to enable remote team
shift in traditional supply chain thinking, shifting the focus to collaboration.
stages four and five of the S&OP maturity model shown in
Figure 3:
• shipments are three-to-four times the historical
Logistics: Plan for logistics to be a constraint. Air
cost, and capacity is often not available when
• Demand: In the pandemic, demand planning based on

order patterns adds more noise than value. However,
needed. The decline in commercial air traffic and
increased regulations add to the complexity. To
don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Consider combat this issue, focus on getting good at planning
redeploying demand planning software based on the and building playbooks to model and prepare for
modeling consumption data. In addition, shorten planning scenarios. Consider S&OP programs with major freight
cycles. Consider a shift in frequency--consider modeling forwarders to align on transportation requirements.
more frequently-- and analyze the value of the forecast Use insights from Freight Forwarders to under border
each period using the Forecast Value Added (FVA) friction and quarantine requirements.
technique.
• Network Design/Inventory Optimization: Design nodes
• replenishment requirements in the slush period to update

Demand Sensing: Using consumption data, model and inventory strategies to improve agility. Holistically
design and fine-tune the networks and inventory strategy
Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) solutions. Over- each period. Embrace inventory as a buffer.
write rules-based consumption from traditional technology
approaches from the tactical to operational time horizon
• S&OP Alignment and Execution: Use new forms of
analytics in solutions like Aera Technology, Logility, and
using the demand sensing logic. Kinaxis to model S&OP execution and the alignment of
• BlueCrux, Llamasoft, Logility, or OMP to continually

Digital Twin Modeling: Work with companies like demand with finite resources.
model to determine the best plan. Test the S&OP plan

• Supplier Data Sharing and Collaboration: In a similar
manner as logistics expect supplier outages from
for feasibility and trade-offs and educate your executive manufacturing disruption. Share data frequently, and
team. Resources: Use in-region resources to manage build S&OP plans with critical suppliers. Use insights
your S&OP program. Make this a factor in technology and from suppliers to improve agility strategies and align
consultant selection. Don’t rely on cross-continental travel to value networks.
drive implementation or process refinement.
WHAT DOES EXAMPLES OF S&OP GOVERNANCE ISSUES:

A 35B$ Food and Beverage company deployed
thirty-three custom instances of S&OP with a
GOOD LOOK
focus on budget compliance. As a result, the
organization met cost objectives, but failed in
the delivery of growth, inventory targets and
LIKE?
customer service. Five years later, no region is
clear on what good looks like in S&OP.
A 50B$ global chemical company worked with a

Driving to a goal requires a clear roadmap and shared large consultant to deploy regional S&OP models.
vision. Companies that quickly achieve S&OP excellence Each region defined time horizons differently;
have five characteristics: outside-in focus, ability to access and as a result, the organization could not
data rapidly, process balance, organizational alignment, and roll-up S&OP for global decision making.
close coupling of S&OP planning and execution cycles. When
organizations take a traditional approach to S&OP, they often A 22B$ consumer products company
miss the organizational nuances of alignment, governance, implemented a model of regional dependency.
and balance. Reporting structures of the S&OP team to the Each region sourced products globally, but
More than One Third Consider Their Primary S&OP

profit center manager helps to improve balance and clarifies the lack of supply reliability resulted in major
governance. S&OP should never report to a function without customer service gaps. The company lacked
S&OP balance.
Process to Balance the “S”
P&L responsibility. In Figure 6, we share the current state of
and “OP”
a feasible supply plan because they were
only planning for segments of the plan.
FIGURE 6. Balance in S&OP
Ability to Balance Their Primary S&OP Process
Balanced
More focused More focused
between the
on the S on the OP
S and the OP
21% 36%
41%
The process is out of Easily balancing plans horizontally The process is
balance with an between the sales/marketing teams out of balance with
emphasis on sales and the operations teams an emphasis on operations
and marketing (logistics, manufacturing, and
processes procurement)
57%
out of balance
____________________________________________________________________
Q15. How would you rate your company’s ability to balance the “S” and the “OP” in the evolution of your [primary] S&OP process (even if you call it
something else)?
NOTE: Respondents answered for the S&OP process with which they are personally most familiar
the organization is aligned between commercial and

Traditional norms and paradigms force organizations to work operational teams, the greater maturity. The In Figure 7, we
in silos. In mature S&OP deployments, companies break share the current state of the industry.
functional thinking to change focus and drive improvement.
With maturity, the concentration is not on the “S” or the Organizational alignment and process balance go hand-
“OP.” Instead, the focus is on the ampersand (&). Examples in-hand. When strategy efforts clearly define metrics
of S&OP process work on the ampersand include reducing and goals, and there is executive alignment, gaps in
product and service complexity, improving network design, organizations disappear. However, over the last decade,
product rationalization, cost-to-serve analysis, and production organizational alignment gaps became more significant, not
platform standardization. smaller. The reason? A focus on functional processes where
the commercial teams on growth and the operations teams
Alignment improvement efforts include a focus on growth on cost create alignment issues.
with shared metrics/incentives definition along with continual
evaluation of complexity and network design. Inventory is a Another factor of S&OP excellence is the tie of planning
sticky wicket: stock consists of both waste and buffer. The to action. As shown in Figure 8, while 80% of companies
Greatest Alignment Gaps Are
aligned organization minimizes waste and designs buffers with
have an Operations
S&OP process, & IT,
only one in two organizations
Sales & Operations, Marketing & Finance, and

with a focus on the form and function of inventory. The closer
connects S&OP planning to S&OP execution. To maximize
New
FIGURE 7. Current State Product
of Organizational Alignment Development & Distribution
Team Alignment: Importance vs. Performance*
Importance Performance Gap (Perf - Impt)

Greatest Gaps Between
Importance and Performance 120%
96% 94% 94%
88% 87% 100%
78% 74% 79% 77%
70% 64% 65% 80%
60% 59% 54%
50% 48% 53% 48% 48% 60%
39% 39% 35%
30% 40%
20%
0%
-7%
-18% -18% -14% -13%
-24% -23% -23% -21% -21% -20%
-38% -36% -40%
-60%
New Sales and Manufact'g Operations Finance & Sales & Marketing Sales & Marketing Finance & Sales and CSR
Product Operations & & IT Operations Finance & Finance Marketing & IT IT IT &
Dev't & Procuremt Operations
Distrib'n
____________________________________________________________________
Q34. In your opinion, how important is it for each of the following pairs of teams to be aligned? SCALE: 1=Not at all important, 7=Extremely important
Q35. How aligned do you believe that these same pairs of teams actually are at your company? SCALE: 1=Not at all aligned, 7=Extremely aligned
*Showing those rating elements 5-7 on 7-point scale; CSR = Corporate social responsibility

results, supply chain planning needs to complete the cycle with a tie of planning to after-action reviews. Mature S&OP processes
manage the planning-to-execution cycle, making sure that there is a review of plan effectiveness each month.
The analysis of the plan requires analytics. To manage this cycle, companies need “what-if” analysis and technology that delivers
a feasible plan. Only 1/3 of companies with S&OP processes have these capabilities. The evolution of digital twin capabilities
ore Than Half
offers promise in S&OPReport Primary
execution for companies more mature S&OP Process
in process development.
Is Executed at Least Most of the Time

FIGURE 8. Respondent Assessment on the Completion of the Planning Cycle to S&OP Execution
How Well Execute the Primary S&OP Process

Don't
know 1%
Tightly Not tied

synched to to S&OP
operations 7%
12%
Hardly execute
17%
Monitor market
and adjust
51%
22% execute S&OP
process most of the
time or more
Execute
Execute most of time
nearly 27%
always
13%
____________________________________________________________________
Q16. After your [primary] S&OP process is generated, how well is it typically executed? Please pick
the one that describes it best.
NOTE: Respondents answered for the S&OP process with which they are personally most familiar
in Insights LLC Copyright © 2019, p. 14

DRIVING PROCESS
MATURITY
S&OP process maturity does not just happen. It requires leadership, focus, and a multi-year roadmap to guide the evolution.
In Table 3, we share the maturity model to support the building of outside-in processes that are bi-directional to orchestrate
demand and supply. With S&OP maturity, modeling increases to manage volume, mix, and financial impacts.
MATURITY MODEL
STAGE 2: STAGE 3: STAGE 4: STAGE 5:
STAGE 1
SALES DRIVEN IBP DEMAND DRIVEN MARKET DRIVEN
ALIGNMENT Functional focus. Functional: A "S" and/ Pieces of the organization Understanding of trade- Adapting the business
or "OP" focus. Lack of start to align, but there is offs and agreement to the market-to-market with
alignment between the "S" a lack of connection of the plan based on strategy. trading partners (demand
and the "OP." process to strategy. and supply) through S&P.
GOAL Functional metrics. Balance demand and Most cost-efficient plan. Maximize opportunity Maximize opportunity and
supply. by balancing customer minimize risk balancing
service growth and growth, customer service,
inventory. Return on Invested
Capital, and inventory.
CAPABILITY Recognition of the need Confusion on what is A clear understanding Ability to model a feasible What if capabilities
for an S&OP process is demand management. of demand flows and plan in different units of Mix modeling
just not sure what to do. constraints. measure—dollars, units, Visibility of unit of
equivalent units. measure, volume and
currency impacts.
Functional plans, but no Clear definition of
clear strategy. strategy. Alignment on “playbooks”
in the market.
MEASUREMENT A focus on functional Organizational metrics Functional metrics start to Balance of metric Connection of the
metrics with no clear emerge to tie action shift to reliability and the performance, risk balanced scorecard
organizational metrics. to strategy, but there corporation starts to align mitigation, and across the organization
is tension between cross-functional metrics opportunity assessment with a functional focus
functional and corporate tied to strategy. through what-if modeling. to the minimization of
metrics. waste and improvement
or reliability.
EXECUTION The focus is on the Planning capabilities What-if capabilities Playbooks based on what- The tactical S&OP plan is
urgent. Planning is poorly start to emerge but they emerge, but they are not if analysis with a close closely tied to execution in
understood and may not operate in a silo not connected to execution. connection to execution. a closed loop.
be valued. connected to execution.
REPORTING Functional reporting in Reporting to the CFO or Reporting through a Reporting through a Reports to a profit center
either sales or operations. the chief strategy officer. business unit center of business unit center of manager.
excellence to a senior excellence to a senior
business leader. business leader.
TABLE 3. Sales and Operations Maturity Model

WHY IS S&OP SO HARD?

Organizations don’t easily align. The natural process orientation within organizations is a silo-based definition of efficiency.
Managing Opportunities/Risk, and Managing Process Flow

Supply chains are complex non-linear systems. The cause and effect of demand, sourcing, and inventory decisions are not well-
understood cross-functionally requiring visualization.
Show Greatest Performance vs. Importance Gaps

In Figure 9, we show the typical gaps. Aligning without shared metrics and visualization of trade-offs is an impossible task
Importance vs. Performance on S&OP Elements

FIGURE 9. S&OP Capability Gaps
Importance Performance Gap (Perf - Impt)
Greatest Gaps Between 120%
Importance and Performance

85% 88% 100%
70% 72% 80%
55%
49% 49% 47% 48% 49% 44% 60%
31% 33% 40%
22%
20%
-5%
0%
-15%
-25%
-20%
-27%
-36% -33%
-39% -40%
-60%
Run what-if Manage Collaborate between Use technologies to Manage process Deliver role-based Deliver on corporate
analyses to opportunities and sales and determine the most flow views for social responsibility
determine risk analysis operations profitable plan individuals across goals
alternatives the company
____________________________________________________________________
Q19. How important is it for your company to do each of the following? SCALE: 1=Not at all important, 7=Very important
Q20. How well does your company perform in each of these same areas? SCALE: 1=Poor, 7=Excellent, 0=Not applicable
Showing those rating elements 5-7 on 7-point scale

SELECTING THE RIGHT

TECHNOLOGY
In the last decade, the technology market for S&OP
technologies emerged as a distinct and separate taxonomy
• Selection Criteria. Purchase based on business
requirements. Companies purchasing based on IT
from supply chain planning. The first entrant in this new standardization are significantly less satisfied.
taxonomy appeared in 2002.
The technology market for S&OP specific solutions is now

• Culture. The selection of a technology provider with a
strong user group and ongoing value-added services.
less than two decades old. There is confusion between
applications in the conventional planning market and the
need for S&OP planning. In the past five years, the influx
• Evolution. Over time, the Technology Company
remains independent with consistent leadership.
of solutions into the market created both opportunity and Technology M&A is an Achilles heel for user
uncertainty. The consolidation of the market for traditional satisfaction.
planning vendors created an opportunity for innovation from
new players. In this report, we outline the characteristics of In process refinement, there is always an over-arching
thirty-four technology providers. question on “integration.” There is a belief that purchase
from an ERP solution provider improves integration. Few
Let’s start with the facts. Today, over 90% of companies understand the fallacy of this argument propelled by ERP
have a solution, and only one in two companies has satisfied providers and system integrators. Most companies have
business users. Only 18% of business leaders can get to the not one, but more than four instances of ERP and four-
data that they need when they need it. Frustration abounds. to-five supply chain planning technologies. We work with
Most have purchased software, but remain dependent on several companies that operate more than a hundred ERP
Excel spreadsheets. The track record is poor. What makes a solutions.
happy business user? We find five characteristics:
Advanced Planning System (APS) integration might
• are distinctly different needs for executive teams and

Ability to Easily Get to Data. In an organization, there be more straightforward with a single instance of ERP,
but this is seldom the case. As a result, the simplistic
planning teams to use data. The most successful worldview of an APS solution sitting on the top of a single
organization design the data/analytics environment to ERP instance is not realistic.
embrace the use of data by the entire organization.
Most planning systems miss the mark. While over 85% of
• requirements. Testing and evolution of the process

Fit. Alignment of the data model to business manufacturers deployed Advanced Planning Systems, over
90% of companies still depend on excel spreadsheets. The
requirements. Only 7% of companies adequately test use of spreadsheets is problematic in many ways. Excel
solutions before purchase. spreadsheets are woefully inadequate to model a complex,
non-linear system. As a result, the output– isolated,
disconnected, and out of sync with the business–spins o9, and OM Partners. The Kinaxis interface scored
endlessly. The lack of adequate supply chain planning the highest in testing, but the data model was not a
systems drives maverick behavior adding to the good fit for the company. OMP had the depth and
organizational change management issues. breadth of the solution but did not score as high on
The selection criteria, listed in the order of importance system usability. In contrast, o9 had an excellent user
to driving business value, is shared here: interface but lacked the breadth of the solution for
• Engines. Get clear. What are you trying to model?

What is the best engine to model your business?
the requirements. In any software selection, there are
trade-offs. This is why it is crucial to define decision
What are the data model requirements? The governance and selection criteria before engaging
requirements for S&OP modeling are industry- the technology companies.
specific, and the most critical determinant of
business value and user satisfaction. Before
engaging with the technology providers look hard at
• Develop a Test Plan and Make a Final Decision
Based on Testing. Extremely long tail supply
your data and determine the model requirements. chains require different techniques. Test demand
Get clear on the needs and the problem that you solutions based on backcasting and Coefficient of
are trying to solve. For example, Kinaxis is the best Variation (COV) segmentation.
optimizer for material-centric supply chains with a
complex bill of materials. The right industries for
Kinaxis include A&D, Automotive, High-tech, and
• Determine Scalability Requirements. Get clear. In
your documentation for solution providers, outline
Industrial Products. Modeling active ingredients for the number of items, parallel usage by business
pharmaceutical companies is also a fit. However, users, and time requirements of batch jobs.
the Kinaxis solution lacks constraint-based asset
modeling for the process industries of chemical,
consumer products, and food/beverage industries.
• ITS&OP,
Standardization. To maximize business value in
this is the last consideration. The discussion
Similarly, for demand planning, understand the level of IT standardization focuses on IT budget
of intermittent demand, the characteristics of trade maximization versus business value. Without testing,
promotions/rebates and price, and the impact of the it is tough to determine the right trade-offs between
long tail. IT costs and business value. While the IT costs are
transparent and known, most companies have not
• with Technology Providers. Stay grounded in the

Define Solution Requirements Before Engaging completed the testing to understand business value.
discovery based on the prioritization of requirements.

Let me give you an example. In a recent sales
• Understand What-if and Collaboration Requirements.
“What-if Capabilities” is a primary driver of agility.
engagement, the company was considering Kinaxis, What-if optimization and business process simulation
are two distinctly different, but equally important techniques. intelligence, and open source technologies. The
Define requirements for both. The strongest technologies for majority of buyers are late adopters and focused on
above-the-line visualization are Anaplan, Kinaxis, Logility and more traditional solutions.
o9 Solutions.
• User Interface Requirements. Different business users

have different preferences. In testing, understand
• Price. Focus on ROI. Enlist finance to baseline
business drivers and business opportunities. Before
business user preferences and have business users getting started in technology discovery, know your
score the user interface as a part of the pilot. budget. Keep in mind that the prices of technologies
vary widely based on negotiation skills.
• Culture. The culture of the solution provider should

match that of the buyer. Only 14% of companies rank
themselves as innovators. Relationships matter. Today,
• System of Record. The average Company’s IT landscape
is complex; to keep these solutions synchronized, there
innovators are testing cognitive computing, artificial is a need for a system of record to drive visibility for
RECOMMENDATIONS
In selecting a solution, here are some recommendations development of software providers.
:
• Focus on Building Capabilities. A mistake many
• Avoid Technologies Built by Consultants. The worst

solutions on the market are those built by consultants.
companies make is implementing technologies. Change
the focus to make technology an enabler, but not the end
The reason is simple: a consultant’s background does not state. Get definitive on the capabilities that you want to
include product management and solution development. build. Actively attack change management issues.
• Build End-to-end: When I hear the words “end-to-end,” I

smile. I then ask the speaker to describe, “What is end-to-
• Side-Step Shiny Objects—Fads and Hype. Stay focused
on building capabilities. Slowly advance based on
end?” For most, the vision is a supplier to the factory or a maturity.
factory to a customer. Focus outside-in, starting with the
customer’s customer and map through the supply chain to
the supplier’s supplier. Think of demand as a river that runs
• The Supply Chain Needs to be Real-time. One mistake
that companies make is asking for processes to
through the supply chain and align the buffers and assets to be real-time. While processes can be updated and
market requirements. refined through real-time data, planning processes
are not, and should not be, real-time. A sole focus on
• Don’t Waste Your Time. Avoid RFPs. Market RFPs for

S&OP solutions are largely a waste of time. Instead of an
real-time creates a reactive response that throws the
supply chain out of balance. Instead, design planning
RFP, carefully short-list a group of providers and give them systems to operate at the speed of business with zero
requirements. Focus on practical testing and relationship latency. The focus only on real-time data introduces
SUMMARY
Under normal conditions, S&OP processes have compelling value, but the pandemic ups the ante. Build a capabilities roadmap and
carefully deploy technology with the goal in mind. Aggressively attack the change management issues to move the organization past
functional silos and inside-out thinking.
NAVIGATING
THE TECHNOLOGY
PROVIDER LANDSCAPE
The landscape of technology providers is confusing to most
buyers. To help, here we share the overviews of the thirty-one
Relative Solution Cost: While costs vary based
solutions most commonly discussed in client interactions.
on negotiations and market conditions, the
1. ADEXA
solutions operate within pricing bands. These
WWW.ADEXA.COM
costs reflect total cost: software, technology and
COST: $$
implementation.
Description: Founded in 1994 by Dr. Cyrus Hadavi,
currently CEO and Chairman of the Board, the
$: Under $200,000
company focuses on supply chain modeling. Los
$$: $201,000-$500,000
Angeles, CA, is the company’s headquarters. With
$$$: $501,000-$1,000,000
slightly more than 150 employees, Adexa has
$$$$: $1,001,000-$1,500,000
international offices across Canada, Asia, Europe, the
$$$$$: Greater than $1,501,000
Middle East, and Africa. Most client deployments are
in Asia and the United States.
Industry Fit: Strong in apparel and discrete With offices in Mountain View, CA, and Venture
manufacturing assembly supply modeling. Capital funding of over 85M$, the company has more
Strengths: The Company is a pioneer in the substantial domain expertise in analytics than supply
development of attribute-based forecasting chain management. The focus is on building cloud-
techniques and has deep supply modeling for based learning applications to move data quickly to
constraint-based planning for manufacturers. align corporations.
Considerations: While the Company touts “AI” on its Industry Fit: Product-based companies seeking
website, Adexa’s focus is a traditional APS footprint. to improve demand and supply matching through
There is early work on machine learning. With over pattern recognition and learning.
three decades of marketing and selling supply Strengths: Aera’s Cognitive Operating System™
chain software, the company struggles to grow. The leverages machine learning, natural language
company is more reliable in building software than processing, and enterprise domain expertise
marketing/sales and deployment. to deliver quick results to improve operational
alignment. The Skill Builder interface, introduced in
2. AERA TECHNOLOGY 2019, enables fast deployment on a cloud-based
WWW.AERATECHNOLOGY.COM release. The technology is ideal for S&OP execution.
COST: $$$$ Considerations: Aera is a compliment, but not a
Description: Founded in 2005 as FusionOps, Aera substitute for planning technologies. The deployment
Technology changed names in 2017. The company of Aera into core planning introduces nervousness
currently operates with slightly over 300 employees. into the planning cycle.
Manufacturers
3. ANAPLAN Strengths: Strength is with the individuals in the
WWW.ANAPLAN.COM firm. The team has strong modeling capabilities of
COST: $$$$$ baseline demand based on exogenous data sets,
Description: Anaplan is pioneering positioning as the customer and product profiles.
leader in connected planning. When it comes to supply Considerations: Antuit.ai is a newly launched company
chain planning, Anaplan is an analytics wannabe. with a few clients in North America. Consider Antuit.ai to
Anaplan fundamentally lacks the understanding of improve demand processes to augment outcomes, but
supply chain planning requirements. Formed and not to replace existing systems.
funded by venture capitalists in 2011, the company
is now public with revenues higher than 340 Million. 5. ARKIEVA
Anaplan offers deep web-based visualization through WWW.ARKIEVA.COM
cloud-based analytics. This capability is useful for S&OP COST: $$
meeting visualization and limited “what-if modeling.” Industry Fit: Chemical and Process Distributors
The demand for the product is high, and the primary Description: The Company was founded in 1993 in
focus is to help the CFO connect financial insights North America by ex-DuPont executives. Branded
across functions. Deployments are primarily through initially as Supply Chain Consultants with product
over 170 third-party consultants mostly lacking the branding of Zemeter, the company rebranded to
understanding of supply chain planning requirements. Arkieva in 2011. Strength in optimization and ideal
Industry Fit: All for a mid-sized process chemical company. Primarily
Strengths: Easy to use and deploy. The product is an engineering-based company, the organization is
ideal for “above-the-line” deployments for companies stronger at building products than solution selling and
larger than 5B$ in revenues seeking the need to value delivery. The architecture lacks visualization
access data in disparate systems and improve capabilities to be a strong ‘above the line’ solution
visualization. for companies higher than 2B$—limited “what-if
Considerations: The product is so easy to deploy capabilities” and no demand sensing solution.
and configure that many companies end up with Strengths: Depth of optimization. Depth in inventory
multiple Anaplan silos. Ironically, while the company management and tactical supply modeling. Stronger
seeks to connect the enterprise, the lack of company at supply than demand modeling.
leadership and deployment methodologies leads to Considerations: Arkieva is a small company located
disconnected, automated silos. in Wilmington, DE, with a strategic relationship
with Solventure in Europe. Asian and European
4. ANTUIT.AI offices opened in the past five years. Implements
WWW.ANTUIT.AI most technology deployments, but implementation
COST: $$$$ methodologies are still evolving.
Description: Previously, a consulting company,
the team pivoted to building SaaS solutions 6. AVERCAST
targeting forecasting and revenue growth in 2018. WWW.AVERCAST.COM
management. The company focuses on unifying COST: $
the demand signal across the supply chain with an Description: When Demand Solutions sold to
emphasis on consumption-based demand sensing Logility in 2007, the Demand Solutions co-founder
planning using AI and machine learning. The Gene Averill founded Avercast. Since then, Avercast
company is backed by Goldman Sachs with over expanded to include twenty regional offices in 10
$50M investment. countries. In 2011, Avercast launched a cloud-based
Industry Fit: Consumer Products and Food/Beverage demand management platform designed to help
small to mid-size distribution-centric manufacturers. of E3 opened up the market for Blue Ridge to offer
Industry Fit: Ideal for a small distribution-centric a cloud-based alternative. Located in Atlanta, the
manufacturing company (less than 1B$) seeking company is regionally-focused, privately-held, and
a solution for demand management and inventory small with less than 100 employees.
replenishment. Private and relatively small with Industry Fit: Distribution-centric companies less than
under fifty employees. 1B$ in annual revenues.
Strengths: The solution depth is in demand Strengths: Combination of replenishment logic with
management to inventory modeling—ideal for a price automation to test demand shaping activities.
team with one-to-two modelers seeking an easy to The technology is ideal for a small retailer/distributor
deploy a solution. seeking an easy-to-use cloud-based solution for
Considerations: The solution is more robust in demand S&OP.
than supply. The technology is not a fit for a company Considerations: Deployments recommended for
larger than 1B$ with manufacturing or material organizations with less than five planners. It is not
constraints in either process or discrete industries. recommended for constraint-based modeling or
organizations with global footprints.
7. BLUECRUX
WWW.BLUECRUX.COM 9. BLUE YONDER (JDA)
COST: $$$ WWW.BLUEYONDER.COM
Description: Bluecrux’s roots are in consulting. COST: $$$$
Privately held, the company, located in Belgium & Description: Blue Yonder (JDA) is an industry
recently in the United States, has approximately 100 consolidator. In 1985, JDA was a retail ERP
employees. Their solution, “Lights Out Planning” provider. Over the last two decades, the company
introduced in 2017, uses machine learning to consolidated many technologies into its platform.
understand patterns in supply chain master data Notable acquisitions included Blue Yonder, E3,
(cycles, lead times, and conversion rates) and align i2 Technologies, Manugistics, and RedPrairie.
planning engines to supply-side shifts. Previously debt-laden and struggling to absorb
Industry Fit: Cross-industry application numerous platforms and changing leadership
Strengths: Strong use of machine learning to directions, the Blue Yonder development roadmap
improve outcomes and a good fit for executive over the past decade has had many starts and stops.
meeting visualization. The company has deep what- The business fundamentals focused on maximizing
if modeling to aid in playbook discovery for S&OP the return on investment of company maintenance
execution. revenues. The current company has more than
Considerations: Medium-sized European Company 5000 employees, with annual revenues of more than
with recently opened US offices. Should be 250$M. The Blue Yonder renaming in 2019 is an
considered for above the line planning since the attempt to breathe a breath of innovation into the
solution lacks tactical planning capabilities for supply company.
and demand planning to generate a feasible plan. Industry Fit: Retail, Manufacturers, and Distributors
Strengths: Breadth of the solution and employee
8. BLUE RIDGE expertise in supply chain planning. Companies
WWW.BLUERIDGEGLOBAL.COM currently using Blue Yonder have a great opportunity
COST: $$ to network with other companies using the solution.
Description: Blue Ridge’s cloud-native supply chain In addition, the Company has a strong base of strong
solutions were launched in 2007 to combine a system integrators. Sourcing strong Blue Yonder
data-driven replenishment engine along with price talent is not an issue.
optimization to improve distribution. JDA’s purchase Considerations: The Company has been slow
to innovate and lags the market in adopting new software deployment using remote/online capabilities
analytic techniques. The S&OP approaches mainly with a focus on 12-week go-live schedules.
build off of the acquired technologies. In addition, Considerations: Supply-centric capabilities for tactical
the company lacks demand sensing capabilities and supply planning and production scheduling is newer
innovation in S&OP execution. with fewer references. The solution is more regional
than global with few trained system integrators.
10. BOARDWALKTECH
WWW.BOARDWALKTECH.COM 12. DEMAND SOLUTIONS
COST: $$ WWW.DEMANDSOLUTIONS.COM
Description: Founded in 2004, Boardwalktech is COST: $$
designed for the spreadsheet user. The company Description: Founded in 1985, Logility purchased
uses a Digital Ledger platform adding security, Demand Solutions in 2011, allowing the company
data integrity, integration, analytics, and predictive to maintain a standalone operation with a focus
capabilities while still using Excel or a web/mobile UI. on mid-market distribution-centric process-based
Based in Silicon Valley with less than 100 employees, companies. Over the past five years, the company
Boardwalktech is a hidden gem in the S&OP focused on cloud-based delivery.
landscape. Small and client-focused, the company Industry Fit: Consumer nondurable manufacturers,
posted 4.9$M in revenues in 2019. food/beverage companies and distribution-centric
Industry Fit: All supply chains for companies with annual revenues
Strengths: Easy to deploy (“lift and shift”) and less than 1B$
designed for companies seeking currently using a Strengths: Tried and true mid-market solution with
spreadsheet-based solution. Ideal for a company just few bells and whistles. Stronger in demand than
starting on their S&OP journey. supply, the company’s product strength is in demand
Considerations: Structure contracts to avoid issues and inventory management.
with financial viability. In 2019, the company posted Considerations: Demand Solutions is stronger in the
its second consecutive year of reported losses. While US and Europe than in Asia. The product is ideal for
deployments are small requiring few support personnel, teams with fewer than five planners but is not a fit for
the Company has no system integrator relationships. a company with a larger planning team.
11. DEMAND CASTER 13. E2OPEN

WWW.DEMANDCASTER.COM WWW.E2OPEN.COM
COST: $$ COST: $$$$
Description: DemandCaster is cloud-based supply Description: E2open is an industry consolidator
centric solution. It is designed to work the way rolling up eleven technologies--including Amber
planners work. DemandCaster supports planning Road, ICON-SCM, Inttra, Steelwedge, Logistics.com,
through to the execution of orders in a single system. Orchestra, Terra Technology, and Zyme—in the past
The Company acquired by Plex Systems in 2016 with five years. More than 540M$ in annual revenues with
a continued focus on building supply capabilities. more than 2400 employees. The company is located
Industry Fit: Automotive, Food & Beverage, in Austin, TX, with small offices in Europe. After a
Household Products, Industrial Components and failed public presence on the financial markets with
Distribution-centric supply chains for companies with multiple unprofitable quarters, Insights Venture
annual revenues less than 1B$ Partners purchased the company in 2015. In 2016,
Strengths: Designed for small to mid-sized the company returned to profitability.
companies seeking an easy to use solution. Stronger Industry Fit: Cross-industry
in supply than demand. Professional services Strengths: Strong demand planning and demand
sensing capabilities with the E2open LDS and Considerations: Enterra is a small company with
MDS products, but the math is stronger than the deep capabilities requiring a strong project manager
architecture. Deploy as an augmentation strategy to guide the team through business process hurdles.
using alternative supply chain planning systems
of record. Lots of capabilities in-house, but the 15. FUTURMASTER
organization is still evolving. WWW.FUTURMASTER.COM
Considerations: The acquired suite is a strange mix COST: $$$
of discrete and process capabilities. The ICON-SCM Description: Founded in France in 1994, FuturMaster
suite layered on top of Steelwedge provides S&OP evolved a supply chain planning suite with a focus
capabilities for a make-to-order or a configure-to- on consumer-focused manufacturers. Currently,
order company. In contrast, the Terra Technology the company has 30M$ in annual revenues with 70
demand sensing suite is a uniquely positioned employees. Headquartered in Europe with offices
product for consumer process companies. The in Asia, the company works through a series of
original E2Open platform is primarily a procurement partners. Talent for United States projects creates
B2B platform. While the E2Open platform drives limitations on project scale and scope.
supplier collaboration, the S&OP functionality of Industry Fit:
Steelwedge is not connected to the traditional Strengths: The solution is a reliable traditional
functionality. The company is still digesting demand modeling tool without a lot of bells and
acquisitions, and the buyer should be wary of whistles. It is suitable for teams of less than twenty-
inconsistent data models and look and feel. Due to five users seeking to deploy a conventional approach.
the confusion, buy based on existing capabilities, not Considerations: With the evolution from a client-server
future product promises. architecture, the company has a tough time competing
against some more contemporary user interfaces.
14. ENTERRA SOLUTIONS Stronger in demand and supply, reference users report
WWW.ENTERRASOLUTIONS.COM issues in the scalability and depth of the supply solution.
COST: $$$$$
Description: Enterra Solutions focuses on building 16. GAINSYSTEMS
cognitive models for autonomous supply chains WWW.GAINSYSTEMS.COM
and solving tough supply chain problems through COST: $$$
multi-dimensional math. With a history in serving Description: GAINSystems, founded in 1971 by
the department of defense, Enterra extended William C. (Bill) Benton as an Operations Research
its solution to solving supply chain problems in and Management Consulting firm, slowly built
2010. The models are extensible and flexible, solutions based on a stochastic optimization
but require a system of record. Look at Enterra approach for manufacturing, distribution, and
as an augmentation strategy to drive greater maintenance and repair operations. Currently, the
insights. The company, located in Princeton, NJ, is company is private, located in Chicago, IL, with small
primarily a North American company with less than offices in Europe and Australia. Today, there are less
seventy employees and revenues less than 10M$. than seventy employees. Customers are primarily
Partnerships with Accenture and SAP. small Midwest distributors of service parts, discrete
Industry Fit: All industries assemblies, and home repair.
Strengths: Deep bench of analytic experts and data Industry Fit: Distributors of service parts, automotive
scientists that love to solve hairy supply chain problems, and appliance assemblies and do-it-yourself
but can be limited by a lack of industry experience. The suppliers to retail
company’s strength is in revenue optimization, baseline Strengths: Small no-nonsense Company with
forecasting, and demand sensing. strength in inventory optimization and baseline
demand management. With a focus on client delivery, Partnerships with Chainalytics and TietoEVRY.
Gains implements its solutions at most clients. Industry Fit: Process-intensive manufacturers less
Considerations: Not a fit for manufacturing than 1B$
optimization and what-if analysis of materials versus Strengths: Small Company focused on client
assets. Best fit for a North American deployment. satisfaction with a strong, easy to deploy supply
The scale and scope of a global implementation of chain scheduling capabilities. Flexibility in cloud-
a manufacturing client higher than 5B$ could tax the based deployment makes the solution easy to use
limited resources. for S&OP execution and closed-loop control between
planning and execution.
17. INFOR Considerations: Based in Europe, with most
WWW.INFOR.COM implementations in the European continent may be a
COST: $$$$$ limitation for companies seeking a global solution.
Description: Infor is an industry aggregator rolling
up over thirty supply chain solutions, this includes 19. JOHN GALT
Baan, Fygir, Marcom, Fygir, GTNexus, Predictix, and WWW..johngalt.com
SSA Global. Solution consolidation served as the Cost: $$
foundation to build the Infor S&OP product. With an Description: John Galt is privately-held and located
extensive focus on usability, the S&OP solution is in Dallas, TX, with offices in North America, Europe,
easier to use today than a decade ago but lacks the Australia and Africa. Founded in 1996, the company
depth of modeling of competitors. has less than 100 employees. There are two primary
Industry Fit: All industries solutions: Atlas Planning Platform and ForecastX
Strengths: Infor stretches over many industries with Wizard (an Excel plug-in). The Atlas system is a
many assets. Companies currently on the INFOR broader suite designed for the use by mid-size
platform can upgrade to the INFOR S&OP product manufacturing planning teams, while the ForecastX
easily. The global reach of the products coupled with technology focuses on helping the planner seeking to
investment in the user interface makes it an ideal use a spreadsheet with pre-defined data models.
system of record. Industry Fit: Distribution-centric companies less than 1B$
Considerations: With a lot of consolidation comes a Strengths: The Atlas product is an easy to use
plethora of assets, and as a result, there is almost no demand and inventory management software at a
problem that Infor cannot solve. The problem is that moderate price point. The John Galt solution is a
many of the developers and knowledge sources of value for companies only looking for distribution and
acquired solutions are no longer with the company. inventory management software.
The company, while global, lacks depth in supply Considerations: The Company is not a fit
chain understanding and experience. for companies seeking supply management
optimization—aligning and resolving asset and
18. I-PLAN material constraints. The Company is stronger in
WWW.IPLANWORLD.COM North America than other regions.
COST: $$
Descriptive: Small cloud-based Company with a 20. KINAXIS
comprehensive suite of products for managing WWW.kinaxis.com/en
supply and demand matching. With fewer than Cost: $$$$
twenty-five employees and global revenues of less Description: Kinaxis grew over 27% in 2019 to
than 5M$, the founders are very hands-on in the 192M$ in revenue. An early leader in software as
business focused on client success. The solution a Service (SaaS), the company now drives over
is stronger in the areas of supply than demand. 60% of revenue from SaaS deployments (excluding
the related professional services, which comprise demand management solution.

another 18% of revenue). With more than 900 Industry Fit: All
employees , the company operates globally with Strengths: The acquisition of OPEX Analytics
strong partnerships with Accenture and Genpact. provides a deep bench of data science talent.
Industry Fit: Material-centric industries in make-to- Over time the pooling of data science with
order and configure-to-order industries. The company network design modelers is a pathway to planning
is also a good fit for the pharmaceutical industry in innovation. Short term, the company is investing in
the management of active ingredient constraints. a new no-code app publishing platform to enable
The solution is not a good fit for asset-intensive the deployment of solutions built on top of their
companies in consumer nondurable, chemical, food/ data model and algorithms. When it comes to
beverage, and personal products. With the recent S&OP, consider LLamasoft a partner to improve
acquisition of Rubikloud, Kinaxis may enter the capabilities in inventory analysis, capacity utilization,
enterprise retail market for demand planning. logistics planning, network design, and demand
Strengths: The solution user interface gets high sensing.
marks from business users. The in-memory model Considerations: LLamasoft does not sell an off-
allows the synchronization of data across planners the-shelf solution for Sales & Operations Planning
and provides a sharing platform for “what-if analysis.” (S&OP), but provides enrichment analysis to fine-
Planners love the fact that they do not have to wait tune the network and align network strategies. The
for batch process outputs. The solution is stronger company’s work in demand management is new
in material planning than demand or inventory and evolving, but promising.
management.
Considerations: Kinaxis is not a deep optimizer 22. LOGILITY
is not been a good fit for an asset-intensive WWW.LOGILITY.COM
company balancing manufacturing constraints. In COST: $$$$
companies that are asset constrained or requiring Description: Logility is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
deep optimization, Kinaxis delivers “an above the American Software. The company has a three-tier
line” visualization capability to help executives see operating and branding structure. (Demand Solutions
trade-offs. Kinaxis implementation resources are operates as a separate brand.) Two thousand
a constraint. The company’s acquisition of a long- nineteen revenues were 109M$: software sales
term partner in India and growing partnerships with (cloud-based and subscription licensing) represented
experienced implementation partners in other regions 25% of revenues, while maintenance revenues were
demonstrate a growing network across other regions. 42% of sales. The Logility S&OP technology is the
best fit for companies between 1-5B$ with a focus
21. LLAMASOFT on American markets. Apparel companies can
WWW.LLAMASOFT.COM benefit from the attribute-based planning capabilities
COST: $$$$ of new product profile planning, while distribution-
Description: With revenues higher than 70M$, centric companies can benefit from the depth of the
and over 700 employees, the company is driving a company’s inventory optimization software.
growth strategy to expand the company’s positioning Industry Fit: Apparel, Household Nondurable, Food/
past network design into the broader supply chain Beverage
planning and analytics market. This strategy included Strengths: The Logility product strength is in tactical
the acquisition of OPEX Analytics in 2019. Relevant planning. The adoption of the Halo analytics platform
solutions for the S&OP process beyond network dramatically improves the user interface and the
design is the depth of inventory optimization analysis “what-if” capabilities of the solution. Logility also
technologies, and the newer schema on read purchased Optiant in 2011, and the technology is still
the most robust inventory management technology centers in the UK and Czech Republic with sales
to analyze the form and function of inventory and offices in the UK . In 2019, the company opened a
establish push/pull decoupling points. US office. Over the past five years, with the rise in
Considerations: The Company’s solution is more interest in DDMRP, the company scaled up for global
robust in demand than supply modeling. The deployments. The company is private with less than
solution is both comprehensive and narrow: many 50 employees
modules with less depth than competitor solutions Industry Fit: Material-centric manufacturers
in supply chain execution. As a result, the Logility Strengths: O8 is the most robust deployment of
solution is not a good fit for S&OP execution. The Demand-Driven Material Requirements Planning
company is more robust in the Americas than in (DDMRP) on the market and the solution is easy to
Europe and only recently accelerated Software as a deploy. Cloud-based and easy to use, the solution
Service (SaaS) deployments. is designed for the planner attempting to translate
demand to a supply base. The company has strong
23. MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES references that report high satisfaction with the
WWW>MANHATTANASSOCIATES.COM O8’s approach to deployment. O8 has a strong
COST: $$$$ relationship with Smart Chain in the UK.
Description: Manhattan is the market leader in retail Considerations: DDMRP is a fit for a limited
supply chain execution with strength in warehouse market. It is not a strong solution for process-based
management. The Company acquired Evant in companies with asset utilization constraints. The
2005. This acquisition—deeply rooted in distribution Company presence is limited in the US.
planning—is the foundation of the current solution for
S&OP. The functionality for retail planning overlays 25. O9 SOLUTIONS
the Manhattan retail planning solution. WWW.O9SOLUTIONS.COM
Industry Fit: Retail and Wholesale Distribution COST: $$$$
Strengths: The Company is a market leader in Description: Founded in 2009, o9’s solution is ideally
supply chain management. Conservative and cash- suited for tactical S&OP process management.
rich, it is financially sound and driven by customer The Graph-based technology platform makes
satisfaction. The solution is solid for demand deployment/implementation more straightforward
planning to inventory management, but lacks of the but does require greater clarity on solution design
depth of Logility (Optiant), LLamasoft, or ToolsGroup. from the leadership team to ensure success. The
The S&OP functionality is ideal for existing company has 592 employees with revenues of $70M.
clients wanting better visualization for executive Industry Fit: Cross-industry
visualization. The solution has global presence. Strengths: o9 is a powerful visualization technology
Opportunities: Expensive and slow-moving, to guide executive meetings and streamline
Manhattan is the ideal choice for a supply chain late discussions. The flexibility of the technology is a two-
adopter not looking for many bells and whistles or edged sword: it is great if the company is clear on
leading-edge innovation. how to deploy the technology, but a struggle if there
is a lack of deployment clarity.
24. O8SUPPLYCHAIN Considerations: The solution, while strong for
(PREVIOUSLY ORCHESTR8) automating the executive meeting cycle, is not suitable
WWW:O8SUPPLYCHAIN.COM for building a constraint-based feasible plan. The
COST: $$$ solution, while focused on revenue management/
Description: The Company founded in 2002, promotion planning, also is not as good at market
rebranded in 2019. With a strong presence in sensing as E2open or Enterra Solutions.
Europe, the company operates development
26. OMP satisfied in quantitative surveys than competitive

WWW.OMP.COM offerings. The Demantra acquisition brought Oracle
COST: $$$$ deep capabilities that have been under-used both
Description: Founded in 1985, OMP’s approach to the by Oracle and the market. The use of the Oracle
market is rooted in deep optimization. Headquartered forecasting tool requires a strong understanding
in Belgium, the company slowly built global reach of demand management and clean data: both are
to deliver revenues of 70M$. Now 600 employees an issue for most companies. The Oracle demand
globally, the company implements solutions at most management solution is a better fit for process
clients with a focus on value-based delivery. industries than discrete manufacturers. The supply
Industry Fit: Process industries, including chemical, software is based on the Numetrix acquisition of
metals, mining, household nondurables, personal JDE. The solution re-writes are problematic and a
products, and food/beverage. better fit for discrete manufacturers.
Strengths: Branded under the Unison Planning
product suite, the company sells the most in- 28. OPTIMITY
depth planning software for supply planning and WWW>OPTIMITYSOFTWARE.COM
production scheduling. Companies deploying OMP COST: $$
are statistically more satisfied with S&OP supply Description: A powerful and easy to use cloud-
modeling than competitive solutions. based solution designed for small and mid-
Considerations: Stronger in supply than demand, the market companies in food/beverage, process
products for demand sensing and demand planning manufacturing and distribution industries. and
have few deployments. The company is slow to process chemical industries. The company, based
deploy Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions, and in Australia, entered the US market in 2018, and is
business users may struggle with the complexity stronger in software deployment than marketing
of the interface. Not a strong solution for S&OP and sales.
execution. Industry Fit: Small and Medium-sized Process
Manufacturers
27. ORACLE Strengths: The solution is easy to use and is one of
WWW.ORACLE.COM/INDEX.HTML the few solutions to enable process manufacturers to
COST: $$$$$ build a feasible supply plan and push it to production
Description: Oracle revenue for the twelve months planning, enabling production schedule adherence in
ending May 31, 2020 was $39.1B, a 1.1% decline S&OP execution. The supply solution is stronger than
year-over-year. The company is global with over the demand, but adequate for the company seeking
130,000 employees and a strong focus on cloud- an easy-to-use solution to translate market demand
based delivery. The company recently announced into manufacturing. Great value for the investment.
cloud-based deployment of S&OP in nine months. Considerations: The Company is relatively small and
Industry Fit: All growing. The solution is the most suitable for Infor,
Strengths: The Oracle solution is rich in functionality, SAP and Microsoft ERP architectures. The company
and for a company recently deploying Oracle ERP, is stronger in Europe and Asia/Australia with a quickly
the solution may be a good fit. The cloud-based growing market presence in the United States.
deployment along with the analytics capabilities
makes this a strong and sound technological 29. QAD DYNASYS
solution. WWW.DYS.COM
Considerations: While the Oracle solution checks COST: $$$
many boxes in functionality, the solution is klunky Description: QAD DynaSys, a division of QAD,
and hard to use with business users significantly less specializes in the development and deployment
of S&OP software for manufacturers, distributors demand planning, and there is no solution for supply
and wholesalers. The company started building planning, S&OP execution, and “what-if” modeling.
supply chain planning in 1985 and offers over 35 Primarily an analytics company, the company lacks
years of experience in supply chain planning. With strong supply chain management expertise.
headquarters located in France, the company is
stronger in Europe than in the United States. 31. SAP
Industry Fit: Discrete manufacturing WWW.SAP.COM/INDEX.HTML
Strengths: The Companies solutions are a good COST: $$$$$
fit for the traditional buyer with a QAD backbone. Description: SAP, with the leading market share
If in Europe, QAD DynaSys offers a strong bench in supply chain planning, offers some of the most
of talented professionals. Stronger in supply than challenging products to deploy and use. The SAP
demand, the QAD DynaSys solution has all of the IBP solution on HANA is replacing the SAP APO
required functionality but few bells and whistles suite. This migration started at the start of 2011
(trade promotion software, baseline lift modeling, with a focus on phasing out APO deployments by
DDMRP, translation of the supply plan into 2025. Business user acceptance is mixed. The
manufacturing scheduling or a digital twin). SAP IBP solution is easier to use than APO but
Considerations: A solid partner in the supply chain often misses the mark on modeling capabilities.
space with a dependable solution, but moves slowly Also, the SAP CIF interface with the SAP IBP
and deliberately under the QAD umbrella. Stronger in solution is no longer a differentiator.
Europe than in North America. Industry Fit: All
Strengths: Global footprint with strong
30. SAS technology backbone for managing transactions
WWW.SAS.COM/EN_US/HOME.HTML and integration, SAP when clear on software
COST:$$$$$ requirements writes the world’s best code.
Description: Headquartered in Cary North Carolina Reference client report mixed reviews.
in the United States, SAS is a global company Initial implementations required substantial
with over 15,000 employees posting more than customization with elongation of calendars and
3B$ in annual revenues. With a deep background budgets, but by complying with standardization
in optimization and analytics, the company has mandates, the teams were able to automate their
multiple supply chain solutions to augment S&OP processes.
S&OP but lacks a full-suite of products for S&OP Considerations: The SAP solution is expensive
deployment. and 30-40% longer to deploy. Most deployments
Industry Fit: Retail, Apparel, Household require customized solutions increasing costs and
Nondurables, Food/Beverages risks of implementation. With a robust consulting
Strengths: SAS solutions designed for the more base, SAP is well-known by system integrators,
experienced demand management team provides most getting a commission on selling and
in-depth analysis of market trends. With solutions deploying the SAP solution.
in revenue management, assortment planning, and
demand management, the SAS solution aids the 32. SCA TECHNOLOGIES
study of baseline demand and the rationalization WWW.SCATECH.COM
of demand-shaping activities. The company also COST: $$$
has an inventory management solution, but it is Description: SCA Technology is a small
seldom deployed. and focused solution designed to help food
Considerations: The solution is only for the mature manufacturers manage reverse bill of material
user. The interface requires a deep understanding of S&OP processes. With a strong customer in
McDonalds, the company specializes in helping to distribution. Subsequent advancements in

drive quick answers for perishable products based functionality have improved the company’s
not only on volume, but also on price. coverage of consumer goods, discrete
Industry Fit: Food manufacturers manufacturing, and retail-specific needs.
Strengths: Small and focused company located Deployments are stronger in Europe but growing in
in the United States with a team of strong data North America. With the investment by Accel-KKR
scientists to orchestrate volume/price trade-offs in 2018, turnover in the company accelerated. The
of reverse bill of material decisions for providers of solution is not a fit for global manufacturers, but is
fresh products (produce, dairy or protein). H3 an ideal optimizer to deepen capabilities of other
Considerations: A small niche provider serving a solutions in the areas of demand sensing and
small, but important market. A better fit for North inventory optimization.
American providers than other continents.
33. TOOLSGROUP
WWW.TOOLSGROUP.COM
COST: $$$$
Description: ToolsGroup, incorporated in 1993,
has its US headquarters in Boston, MA with offices
in LATAM and Europe. The company’s strength is
demand forecasting and inventory optimization for
distribution-centric companies with intermittent
demand. The company started work on Machine
Learning for inventory optimization in 2018.
With global operations and a strong footprint in
Europe and North America, the team serves other
markets through a network of regional distribution
partners. As a result, the company is a better fit
regional versus a global company. The ToolsGroup
organization is less than 200 employees with R&D
offices in Italy.
Industry Fit: Distribution-centric industries
including consumer Goods, Food & Beverage, and
Wholesale Distribution.
Strengths: A strong solution for demand
forecasting & planning, demand sensing, inventory
optimization and replenishment planning. The
solution lacks manufacturing capabilities and
should be deployed only in companies that
are distribution-centric. The product is named
Service Optimizer 99+ (SO99+) with probabilistic
forecasting ideal for long-tail demand patterns.
ToolsGroup offers a strong demand sensing and
inventory capabilities.
Considerations: The solution began as an
optimizer for aftermarket parts and wholesale
APPENDIX
Here we share insights on demographics from the The names of the respondents—both individuals and
supporting quantitative study. The participants in this companies participating in the study--are held in
research answered the surveys of their own free will. confidence. Here we share the demographics from the
There was no incentive to drive an improved response analysis to help the readers of this report gain a better
rate. LinkedIn followers composed the research panel. perspective on the results. In this section, we share
the demographics and additional charts to help the
reader to understand the research.
FIGURE A. Respondent by Company Type

84% of Companies Have an S&OP Process

FIGURE B. Number of S&OP Processes of Respondents
Number of Distinct S&OP Processes

7 Processes on average
Don't know
15%
One
27%
S&OP Process
Five+ Definition:
19% A tactical planning
process to forecast sales
and plan operations.
Two
14%
Four 58% have Two+
9%
S&OP Processes
Three
16%
____________________________________________________________________
Q9r1: How many distinct S&OP processes does your company currently have?
NUMERIC RESPONSE.

OTHER REPORTS
IN THIS SERIES
Readers may gain added value by accessing previously RETHINKING SUPPLY CHAIN ANALYTICS
published reports on the SUPPLY CHAIN INSIGHTS
WEBSITE: INSIGHTS ON SUPPLY CHAIN FINANCE
PUTTING TOGETHER THE PIECES:

TECHNOLOGY GUIDE TO S&OP SELECTION
SALES AND OPERATIONS PLANNING:

STATE OF THE UNION
THREE TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE

ORGANIZATIONAL ALIGNMENT
WHY IS S&OP SO HARD?

Founded in February 20
The Company’s mission
chain leaders. If you n
corporate performance,
7 Dart Court Manor
goal is to help leaders u
Hanover, PA 17331
matter.
Email: regina.denman@supplychaininsights.com
info@supplychaininsights.com
About Lora
Phone: O: +1 207.521.9176
M: +1 617.372.6921
Fax: 866-466-3350
Lora
About Supply Chain Insights LLC
Founded in February 2012, Supply Chain Insights LLC delivers independent,
the a
actionable, and objective advice for supply chain leaders. The company is dedicated
to research with the goal of helping companies gain first-mover advantage.
by 15
About Lora Cecere is a a
Lora Cecere (twitter ID @lcecere) is the Founder of Supply Chain Insights LLC and
is the author of popular enterprise software blog Supply Chain Shaman currently Matte
read by over 300,000 supply chain professionals. She writes as a Linkedin Influencer
and is a contributor for Forbes. Lora is an author of nine books including Bricks Sham
Matter in 2012 and Metrics that Matter in 2014.
Chai
Shaman’s Journal 2015
published in June 2016
With over 14 years as a

Group and now as the
worked with over 600 c
evolution of supply chai
seeking first mover adv

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What is Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP)?

What is Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP)?

What are some challenges of implementing S&OP?

What are some challenges of implementing S&OP?

SALES &

OPERATIONS Lore Cecere

A Guide For The Supply

Avoiding The Pitfalls

Disclosure //4 S&OP Pre-Pandemic

Below the Line Planning // 8

Definitions Matter //9

ocess with which they are personally most familiar

Driving Process Maturity // 18 Summary // 23

Why Is S&OP So Hard? // 19 Navigatingthe Technology

• Technology Briefings: In the period of January-March 2019, Supply Chain Insights

• Quantitative Assessment: In parallel, we fielded and completed a quantitative

• Technology/Software Document Review: To ensure factual accuracy, we shared

In the pandemic, S&OP increases in importance.

With this compelling value proposition, why are

Technology is needed to orchestrate the process, but

a n d O p e ra t i o n s service data and analyzing the root cause of order

Pl a n n i n g ? contribution of the prior period plan to the business.

• Reactive and Short-term Focus: A common mistake

• Role of the Budget: The second mistake, as will be

• Executional Period/Order Duration: In this period,

FIGURE 1. Supply Chain Planning Technology Architectures

SELL DELIVER MAKE SOURCE TYPE

Distribution Material Below the Line

COMMERICAL PLANNING SUPPLY PLANNING

SCENARIO MANAGEMENT FINANCIAL INTEGRATION

When companies view IBP as the connection of sales,

SALES FINANCE SUPPLY CHAIN

FOCUS A focus on customer Controlling costs and Maximizing customer service

When viewed as a level of maturity, IBP is level three

Sales Driven Business-planning Driven

Manufacturing Driven Demand Driven Market Driven

Effectiveness of Primary S&OP Process* Comparison of current State of S& OP three

Not Not effective, 8%

The easiest way to alleviate this issue is the shift from

Is Getting to Right Data in Timely Fashion

FIGURE 5. Gaps in Initial Implementations

Challenges with Initial S&OP Process Implementation

Lack of support from other functions 54%

Supply Chain Insights LLC Copyright © 2019, p. 21

Training and Skill Dilution The Role of the Budget

Management of Planning Master Data Organizational Governance

Clarity of Process Definitions Process Discipline and Clarity of Roles

Shifts in Leadership Measurement Systems

SHIFTS IN THE PANDEMIC

Until there is a vaccine or an effective treatment for COVID-19,

cost, and capacity is often not available when

• Demand: In the pandemic, demand planning based on

• replenishment requirements in the slush period to update

• BlueCrux, Llamasoft, Logility, or OMP to continually

model to determine the best plan. Test the S&OP plan

WHAT DOES EXAMPLES OF S&OP GOVERNANCE ISSUES:

A 50B$ global chemical company worked with a

More than One Third Consider Their Primary S&OP

Ability to Balance Their Primary S&OP Process