S&OP flow in your business Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) is not a difficult process to follow – the challenge is to make it happen! The objective is to improve the balance through supply chains, between expected future demands for the organisation’s products and services, the organisation’s resources and the supply of purchased or intra-company provided items. And, of course, … Read More
Future directions for planning supply chains using S&OP
Sales & Operations Planning developments Even as ‘collaboration’ software is implemented, gaining power within organisation structures will continue. The increased importance of Supply Chains in the eyes of senior executives could result in the discipline become a target for takeover by Finance. And developments happening in Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) lend support to the possibility. The research firm Gartner … Read More
Reducing costs in supply chains may not improve productivity
eCommerce drives storage sector expansion The drivers of productivity improvement are technological advances in machines, infrastructure development, more efficient organisations and investment in human capital through education and training. But, in developed economies advances in technologies appear to have not transferred to increased productivity over the past 20 years (measured as gross domestic product (GDP) per hours worked). This has … Read More
Forecast ‘error’ affects Inventory in Supply Chains
Not ‘better’ forecasting Volatility in demand increases as more product lines are introduced that appeal to niche consumers; so ‘better’ forecasting becomes more difficult. The alternative approach is to analyse how your inventory should be managed. Based on the analysis, build a decision structure for inventory and so better manage the stock keeping units (SKUs). In the previous blogpost, it … Read More
Improve your supply chains through segmenting inventory
Uncertainty in supply chain elements Support from the Finance and Accounting group within your organisation is vital for the effectiveness of Supply Chains. A step in gaining support is through segmenting the elements of your organisation’s supply chains into categories for improved management. The main elements within a supply chain are customers, finished goods inventory and service parts (when applicable), … Read More