Many companies have a sales & operations planning (S&OP) process where they are forecasting at the product level what is apt to be demanded in the market from three to twenty-four months out. Then companies seek to examine whether the forecast meets what a manufacturer can produce. Scenarios and tradeoffs are examined. Finally, the company comes up with a plan for matching projected demand with the company’s production capabilities. If companies use the term integrated business planning (IBP), then this demand/supply tradeoff process is also designed to ensure that budgetary goals are achieved.
But companies often do not achieve their revenue, market share, service level, or profit goals. A new process – called sales & operations execution (S&OE) – is being promoted as a process that will allow companies to better achieve the goals set forth in the S&OP executive meetings.
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