How marketing is killing Integrated Business planning

Not too long ago I sat down with a software vendor. He showed me a very interesting demand and promotional planning tool. It was user-friendly, collaborative with workflows and well integrated financially. Then it happened: ‘This is our Integrated Business Planning tool’, he said. I said; ‘That’s not IBP, or at least, I have a different definition’. After a longer chat he came around and … Continue reading How marketing is killing Integrated Business planning

A new definition for Integrated Business Planning

In one of my S&OP pulse check surveys, I asked participants the following question; ‘Do you believe there is a difference between S&OP and IBP?’ Most (48%) of the 120 survey participants believe there is a difference. 20% answered ‘don’t know’ and the remaining 32% believed there is no difference.  The answers made me realize I actually don’t know any widely acknowledged definition for IBP. And … Continue reading A new definition for Integrated Business Planning

How to prevent Groupthink in S&OP meetings

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon, which occurs when a group of people, in which the desire for harmony results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Teams suffering from groupthink, minimize conflict and create an ‘ingroup’ mentality that rejects challenges to current viewpoints, decisions, or the addressing of controversial issues from the ‘outgroup’. We need discussion and challenge, so these are behaviours that need to … Continue reading How to prevent Groupthink in S&OP meetings

How to Prepare for an S&OP Meeting like Rafael Nadal

In the corporate world you can drown in meetings. Estimates are, that if you’re a middle manager, you can spend about 35% of your time in meetings. If you’re in upper management, that goes up to 50%. When we spend up to 50% of our working time in meetings, you would think that we prepare well, are focused and run them efficiently and effectively. We … Continue reading How to Prepare for an S&OP Meeting like Rafael Nadal

The dirty little secrets of S&OP

Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) as a business process is just over 30 years old. A lot has been written about why S&OP implementations succeed or fail and why many organization are stuck in their maturity. Recently Supply Chain Insights published a report with the following 5 top challenges on why S&OP is a tough nut to crack. 72% has difficulty getting to the right … Continue reading The dirty little secrets of S&OP

The rise and fall of S&OP

There is no doubt that over the years, Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) has brought companies around the world many valuable business improvements. This article argues that after existing for over 30 years, the development of S&OP as an end to end business management process method has come to a standstill. This standstill is threatening the very existence of S&OP. The only way to further … Continue reading The rise and fall of S&OP

The main reason why S&OP implementations fail!

‘If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get there‘, Yogi Berra, a famous baseball player famously said. Berra knew how to achieve and win, appearing in 21 world series and winning 13 of them. He was elected to the baseball hall of fame in 1972 (Wikipedia). If we want to achieve something, we usually define our goals, measurements and targets. We usually … Continue reading The main reason why S&OP implementations fail!

7 S&OP insights from the 2014 S&OP pulse check

A big thanks to all participants who joined in this years pulse check. Attached you can find the results of the 2014 S&OP pulse check, the fourth of its kind. It gives an indication on S&OP maturity status and change drivers. An indication indeed, as one participants said; ‘it is a check up and not an autopsy’. My biggest insights, or shock should I say, … Continue reading 7 S&OP insights from the 2014 S&OP pulse check

7 Steps to Build a Sustainable S&OP Culture

S&OP is a long term game, if not a never ending continuous improvement game. More than once, I’ve witnessed well working S&OP processes collapse within months after a merger, restructure, leadership change or other significant business changes. The process was working; people rocked up to meetings and had meaningful conversation. Information was on the table, some business decisions were made. Systems were working to support … Continue reading 7 Steps to Build a Sustainable S&OP Culture