The final step in sales & operations planning is to align the supply and demand plans established in previous steps. This alignment takes many factors into account, including material supply, production capacity, and safety stock levels.
When these supply and demand plans are combined effectively, S&OP can be extremely beneficial, often resulting in reduced lead time, lower inventories, and increased profitability. Additionally, companies driven by S&OP see perfect order fulfilments increase by 17%, according to Plex Demandcaster, leading to heightened customer satisfaction.
Unfortunately, many businesses struggle to implement good S&OP practices to improve their future output. The day-to-day reality of running a plant can quickly overwhelm even the most thorough supply and demand plans. However, a planning and scheduling tool can help overcome some of these challenges and keep manufacturers on the path toward increased efficiency.
Create Consensus Decisions
With so many individuals and components involved in the manufacturing process, coming to a consensus on planning decisions is no easy task. When one or more departments are left out of the planning process, or aren’t informed of all the necessary information, it leads to a disconnect within the organization. The decision-makers may misdirect their focus or mistakenly ignore an important consideration, and the entire S&OP process suffers as a result.
Using a planning and scheduling tool like VirtECS® ensures all decisions are based on full, current plant data. VirtECS® provides accurate representations of the facility’s production capacity, combines input from each department, runs sample scenarios, and optimizes the plant schedule based on its unique constraints. With software that localizes all of this information, the path to find the most efficient plan becomes much clearer.
Aid in Effective Communication
Breakdowns in the S&OP process are often attributed to miscommunication across the organization. If one key group isn’t aware of changes made to the supply or demand plan, they can’t do their part to bring the plant up to speed. Ultimately, success in S&OP depends on effective, ongoing communication of all information across departments. In a large manufacturing plant, though, that can be easier said than done.
VirtECS® Symphony is a planning and scheduling communication tool that publishes the most current VirtECS® plant schedule to all personnel on the plant floor. VirtECS® Symphony is web-based, allowing for easy access for any employees with an Internet connection. The tool also allows for comments on each schedule, giving the entire production team a platform to discuss suggested improvements that better align with the supply and demand plans in real time.
Get Granular with Your Plans
Like many manufacturers, your organization may produce a wide range of products or face many production constraints within each plant. These circumstances can also serve as a roadblock to S&OP, making it tough to accurately plan around each limitation. With only big-picture planning tools at your disposal, implementing the supply and demand plans can feel like an insurmountable hurdle.
To support S&OP, employing a more granular planning tool is critical. VirtECS® is an ideal such tool. VirtECS® gives manufacturers the ability to prioritize each of their products and make more-informed decisions about needed trade-offs in order to drive the highest profits. The software is user-friendly, making it easy for anyone in the organization to learn to use it. Many of our current customers rave about VirtECS®’ S&OP capabilities. To find out more about how VirtECS® can benefit your organization, book a time to chat with us here.
