I’m seeing an uptick in coverage of Sales and Operations (S&OP) planning that supports the statement made in a recent Forbes article:

Sales and Operations planning (S&OP), the cross-functional process to align the commercial processes of sales and marketing with the operational processes of supply, is having a renaissance. It is not a new process. Companies have worked on these processes for over 35 years; but today, only two out of five companies surveyed believe that their processes are effective.

There’s the rub: despite the renewed emphasis on S&OP, its effectiveness remains an issue for many organizations. As the Forbes piece asks, why is it so hard?

A recent webinar hosted by E2open addressed the issue of S&OP effectiveness by detailing the top four actions a company can take to accelerate timely, measureable process improvement:

• Trust but verify. Critically assess the quality and timeliness of data upon which decisions are made.
• Widen the sphere of influence. Directly involve suppliers and customers in the S&OP process.
• Mind the gap. Integrate to align>> re-plan>> execute the round trip of Sales & Operational Execution (S&OE) between periodic S&OP meetings.
• Protect the plan. Monitor and adjust the plan, based on corporate strategic priorities, to ensure revenue execution.

I found this to be a timely and very useful webinar; you can register to watch it here.