ROCE Partners Market Study, January 30, 2009

ROCE Partners have together with Linköping Institute of Technology conducted a survey of how manufacturing companies in Sweden and Finland manage to balance their demand and supply. This study includes a review of latest research on the topic as well as case studies with companies in different industries and of different size. As a result of this survey we have created the white paper, ‘How to turn Sales and Operations Planning into a successful tool for synchronizing Demand and Supply?’

With the ever increasing dynamics of today’s markets, handling the balance between demand and supply becomes more important than ever. Historically, companies have planned their operations based on factory capacity and asset utilization, but often neglected the whole picture and the importance of cooperation between sales and operations. Common symptoms recognized as a consequence of unsynchronized demand and supply plans are high inventory levels, low customer service, forecasting errors, and missed sales opportunities.

Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) is considered the prime business process to overcome silo cultures and taking control of the demand and supply balancing. An ideal S&OP process is action oriented, event driven and aims to aggressively resolve problems in the supply chain. However, many companies have realized that in the real world S&OP meetings can be a minefield of office politics, weak commitment and biased interests. This White Paper guides you around the pitfalls and describes how to turn S&OP into a successful tool for synchronizing demand and supply, leveraging internal and external collaboration and ultimately increasing the company´s competitive edge.

Contact us to receive this document.