How to enhance S&OP process with technology
EPISODE 1 – The path for an effective Intelligent Planning
A few weeks ago we have submitted a survey to an audience of manufacturing professionals, more specifically operations decision makers: 60% of the respondents identified supply chain planning as the key process that needs improvement in their company.
Supply chain planning has assumed an important significance in today’s rapidly changing business environment. Today more than ever, companies need to rely on a solid, doable and optimized production plan, taking care of all the possible constraints and flexible enough to adapt to unknown events and ever-changing customer behaviours.
Challenges, solutions and benefits
We can all agree on the importance that a good Sales, Inventory & Operations process can play. Still, maintaining such process effective can be challenging. Technology cannot replace good processes and competent people, but is a great support in making the process robust and efficient. Here some tips:
- Process complexity
Make it simple and standardize. With Intelligent planning systems you can easily standardize and connect sales, operations and capacity planning processes. All while strengthening financial forecasting, running what-if scenario simulations, and smoothen bottlenecks, with the best use of artificial intelligence powering your plans.
- Visibility and communication
To manage nowadays’ complex supply chains you necessitate the ability to keep departments actively connected and aligned on a single goal when it comes to decision making, where cross-functional teams share information and there is collaboration with external partners. Supply chain management software can provide you with the right visibility and transparency across all stakeholders. Let’s think about the centralized dashboards that serve as a real-time and visual communication platform for all stakeholders, attracting attention to what requires action.
- Scaling up your current processes
Processes need to evolve and technology needs to be effective in adapting to and supporting your growth. Cloud technology can give you the right level of flexibility and accessibility. Having a centralized, single source of truth and a highly innovative UX are crucial for this.
- Data management and decision-making
A good technology platform can enable you to work by exception to focus on what matters and have the right data to the right person at the right time to enable taking the right decision. Using AI-powered software, for one, can give you deeper insights into sales data so that you can focus on actual execution. Big data and analytics can also point out the strengths and weaknesses of your current strategy to improve.
In today’s business environment, it is imperative for businesses of all sizes to engage in supply chain planning. Even if different in need, manufacturing companies share the need to put in place a successful S&OP /IBP process.
Among the main benefits of an integrated business planning, we can mention:
- efficiency enhancement,
- delays and operating costs reductions,
- risks prevention,
- rightsized inventory, hence working capital,
- enhanced customer satisfaction,
- stronger customer loyalty.
To succeed in this journey, you can now rely on d-one, your smart partner in innovation. Do like many of our customers: implement our Intelligent planning module to strengthen and enhance your planning process. Need a proof? Our intelligent planning module helped one of our customers becoming its single planning platform across the globe and enabling data driven executive decision making and aligned business planning across all functions.
Some key benefits registered after the implementation are: