Organizations are starting with the basics when it comes to sales and operations planning, but the possibilities are promising

Sales and operations planning (S&OP) is nothing new, but software to manage the process is maturing and may include a wide range of other planning functionality. S&OP is evolving into a multi-dimensional process that often includes demand, supply and financial data. With a new focus on demand visibility and balancing supply and demand within an organization, S&OP can gather disparate data and take a broad view to create a company’s integrated business plan.

The supply chain market may be moving toward a more integrated approach to S&OP and demand planning. Software may be able to perform routine reviewing of demand and supply resources, and create annual fiscal plans that are dynamic and able to be changed quickly when needed. Sales and operations planning solutions can view and manage exceptions in business plans, and should contain “what if” capabilities and other methods to create contingency strategies. Reporting on KPIs is an important feature too.

Best-in-Class Sales and Operations Planning Features:

• Automates annual planning processes and allows stakeholders to revisit and change plans as needed
• Brings together data from disparate sources, including sales, production, finance, marketing, transportation and procurement
• Includes measurement tools to see actual performance vs. plans or forecasts

Top Considerations before Buying Sales and Operations Planning Products:

Sales and operations planning processes can be challenging, but developing software should facilitate better internal coordination within organizations and better collaboration with trading partners to balance supply and demand. S&OP software is moving beyond data collection to build dynamic supply chain management plans that drive production and sales decisions. The process should begin with good forecast management, using market intelligence whenever possible, and forecast accuracy should only improve with better, more responsive planning. S&OP may integrate more tightly with demand management software as solutions mature to meet as many organizational supply chain needs with as few platforms as possible. Interest is growing in SIOP – sales, inventory and operations planning – as the key role of inventory in S&OP is acknowledged.

Key Products:

1. Logility delivers supply chain visibility, demand, inventory and replenishment planning, sales and operations planning (S&OP), inventory and supply optimization, manufacturing planning and scheduling, transportation planning and more. Its Voyager Sales and Operations Planning software lets users establish a central warehouse for planning data from various sources, and synchronizes data for a single-platform view. Software can help achieve better visibility by identifying profitable customers and channels. Voyager S&OP can streamline the planning process and gain insights into customers, while reporting on KPIs and issues that arise.
 
2. Steelwedge Software develops products for sales planning and performance management (SPPM), driving an executive sales and operations planning process to create, validate and synchronize revenue plans, align them with business and financial targets, and gain executive visibility and control over enterprise performance. The Sales Planning & Performance Management (SPPM) Suite from Steelwedge offers sales forecasting and planning with four dynamic modules and an S&OP platform that incorporates collaborative technologies with business workflows and performance management capabilities. The Sales Forecasting and Planning solution uses sales market intelligence for improved forecast accuracy and analyzes forecast probability.

3. ConXPoint is the flagship service of CXP Solutions. ConXPoint works to accelerate the speed and accuracy of the sales process, from gathering information to creating a winning sales proposal to presenting the proposal to the prospective client via ConXPoint web conferencing. ConXPoint lets users transmit information to prospective clients, track and share proposal status by different attributes and deliver the finished proposal to decision-makers at any location.

4. Avercast is a demand planning software company with products available in both a "lite" version as well as an "enterprise" version to accommodate various needs and budgets. Avercast Sales, Inventory, & Operations Management (SIOM) Software emphasizes the key role that inventory plays in sales and operations planning. It automates the annual business planning process, adding visibility for business managers. SIOM also uses scorecarding for business performance and custom reporting. The tools also perform “what if” scenarios and analyzes business movement with performance comparisons.

Sales and Operating Planning
Definition: Sales and operations planning (S&OP) is an integrated business management process through which the executive/leadership team continually achieves focus, alignment and synchronization among all functions of the organization. The S&OP plan includes an updated sales plan, production plan, inventory plan, customer lead time (backlog) plan, new product development plan, strategic initiative plan and resulting financial plan.