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One demand plan that sales, operations and finance sign off
Demand planning and S&OP (sales and operations planning) forecasts demand and turns it, every month, into one plan for sales, purchasing, production and inventory. Diego analyses your cycle and helps you set it up and choose the tool.
37 questions · result by dimension · free
A monthly meeting with an agreed number
S&OP is a monthly cycle: demand forecast, capacity and supply review, financial reconciliation and a meeting where management decides. Planning tools compute the forecast and keep the plan versions.
Without that cycle, each department works from its own projection and the result is stock-outs on some products and overstock on others.
- 01Demand forecast
- 02Sales and operations plan
- 03Inventory planning
- 04Monthly executive review
Processes it covers
Indicators that call for a S&OP
These signs share one cause: there is no demand figure agreed each month that every department uses.
- Each department has its own forecast
- Fast movers run out while slow movers pile up
- Purchases repeat last month's
- There is no monthly meeting that closes one plan
- Promotions launch without telling operations
- Finance cannot forecast cash from a reliable sales plan
Company profile for a S&OP, and when it is not a fit
Good fit
- Manufacturers and distributors with hundreds of products and marked seasons
- Companies with stockouts and overstock at the same time in different families
- Management teams that must project cash from a sales plan operations can back
Poor fit
- Make-to-order sales with lead times the customer accepts: the plan comes from the order book
- Few products with stable demand: the ERP's replenishment rules are enough
- Companies looking to buy software before departments agree to meet every month
Cost of planning with a different forecast in each department
Lost sales
A stock-out on a fast mover does not show in the accounts, but the customer buys elsewhere.
Tied-up inventory
What was bought on instinct takes up warehouse space and cash until it is cleared.
Rush purchases
Without an agreed plan, shortages are solved with air freight or the most expensive supplier.
S&OP analysis method
The assessment follows a monthly S&OP cycle: demand review, supply review, financial reconciliation and the executive meeting where a single plan is approved.
Online assessment
37 questions on the planning cycle, sales history, capacity and departmental participation. The result shows which stage of the cycle is missing or does not hold.
30-minute review
Diego reviews the result with you and asks for last month's forecast from each department that has one. From that he shows how far they differ and which stage to start the cycle with.
S&OP cycle workshop
Half a day with sales, operations and finance: monthly cycle calendar, product families to plan, horizon, assumptions and who approves the plan.
Selection and integration
Three monthly cycles with well-built spreadsheets and, once the cycle holds, comparison of two to four planning tools connected to your ERP.
Dimensions of the S&OP assessment
Planning cycle
Example: How is the plan used by sales, operations and finance approved?
Sales history
Example: Does sales history separate what wasn't sold due to stock-outs, or sold due to a promotion?
Plan and capacity
Example: Where does the demand plan live?
Link to purchasing, production and finance
Example: Does the agreed plan reach purchasing and production?
Accuracy and lost sales
Example: Do you measure forecast accuracy?
Department participation
Example: Who prepares the plan's numbers?
Assumptions and changes
Example: Are the plan's assumptions (prices, campaigns, launches) recorded?
Your company's inputs to a S&OP project
Data
- Two to three years of monthly sales history by product or family
- Current stock and supplier replenishment lead times
- Plant or purchasing capacity per family
People
- One owner each from sales, operations and finance
- A senior manager who chairs the monthly meeting and approves the plan
Access and documents
- Sales and inventory export from the ERP
- Current forecasts and budgets from each department
Diego's services in a S&OP project
Monthly cycle design
With management we set the calendar of the four cycle meetings, their participants, the decisions of each one and the plan format.
Deliverable: S&OP cycle calendar and rules
Forecast baseline
We clean sales history of stockouts and promotions in the families that carry most sales and measure the accuracy of the current forecast.
Deliverable: current forecast accuracy by family
Support for the first cycles
We facilitate the first three monthly meetings and record assumptions, decisions and deviations from actual sales.
Deliverable: cycle minutes with approved plan and assumptions
Tool selection and integration
Once the cycle holds, we compare planning tools on your sales history and connect the chosen one to the ERP.
Deliverable: decision matrix and connection to sales, inventory and purchasing
Scope
Dmunoz Group does not implement S&OP platforms: the vendor configures them. Diego works on your company's side in the analysis, the choice, the ERP integration and checking the result.
Platforms we compare for a S&OP
Odoo
Odoo Inventory with replenishment rules and a basic forecast. It is a starting point when the ERP is already Odoo; it does not replace the monthly meeting or an advanced planning platform.
Other recognised platforms
- SAP Integrated Business Planning
- Kinaxis Maestro
- o9 Solutions
- Blue Yonder Demand Planning
- Oracle Demand Management
- Anaplan
Comparison criteria
- Statistical forecast by family and by product, with recorded manual overrides
- Plan versions per cycle and comparison with actual sales
- Supply plan with plant and supplier capacity
- Connection to ERP sales history, inventory and purchasing
The order of the list implies no preference. The choice of a planning tool comes from sales history by family and the monthly cycle already in place.
Systems a S&OP exchanges data with
S&OP assessment result in 37 questions
This assessment measures how your company forecasts demand by SKU and customer and how it turns that figure into purchasing, dispatch and cash. The questions describe observable situations in the monthly cycle, from one sheet per area to a versioned plan.
Scored dimensions
- Monthly S&OP cycle. It observes whether sales, operations and finance close a single plan version each month, with a fixed date, an owner and a change log.
- Forecast by SKU and customer. It observes how the forecast is built by SKU, channel and key customer, whether history separates demand from sales and whether the error is reviewed.
- Replenishment and dispatch capacity. It observes whether the agreed plan turns into purchase orders, transfers between warehouses and picking and fleet capacity before the product runs out.
- Plan in currency and cash. It observes whether the unit plan is valued in currency with the same price and campaign assumptions, and whether finance uses it to project revenue, inventory and cash.
- Stockouts and service level. It observes whether lost sales from stockouts, forecast accuracy and service level per customer are recorded, and whether those figures are reviewed in the cycle.
What you receive
When you finish you receive your level in five S&OP dimensions and the gap in each. Each gap comes with the first concrete step for your distribution operation.
18 scored questions and 14 context questions (type of operation, size, current system). Context questions are not scored: they let us read the result against similar operations.
Common questions about a S&OP project
The usual risk is buying a platform before the monthly cycle works. We recommend three cycles with well-built spreadsheets before choosing a tool.
We work with what there is. Stock-outs and promotions are cleaned out of the top-selling products and what is missing starts being recorded today.
Planning platforms are implemented by their vendor. Diego helps set up the cycle, defines requirements, compares options and connects the plan to your ERP.
The online S&OP assessment and the 30-minute review are free. If a workshop or a project makes sense afterwards, you get a proposal with scope and deliverables before deciding.
Only Diego Muñoz sees your answers on forecast, supply plan and the monthly consensus meeting, to prepare the review. They are not shared with third parties or used for bulk mailings.
A 30-minute S&OP review with Diego
Take the assessment and book the review with each department's forecast. Diego Muñoz replies in person, on Lima time.
WhatsApp +51 919 488 260 · damunoz@dmunozgroup.com