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by Chris Chiappinelli, MA Editorial Staff   | Abstract: | Manufacturers forging ahead with sales and operations planning would do well to remember that a realistic view of the business goes a long way. |
The concept of realism has had its share of champions and skeptics across the centuries, in arenas as wide-ranging as philosophy, literature, and physics. But for manufacturers intent on perfecting their sales and operations planning, it is essential. The sales and operations planning (S&OP) concept has been around for more than two decades and has won much attention in recent years. At the crux of the discipline is a series of activities that allow a manufacturer to say, "Based on our sense of market demand, we expect to sell X amount of product, and we will set our operations plan based on that expectation." Ideally, it is a realistic assessment of future activities. But it seldom turns out that way, experts say. [Click to continue] |