An investigation of the factors affecting successful sales and operations planning activities in the UK

摘要

With the advantages of globalisation and global sourcing, UK businesses have tomanage longer, more complex, supply chains whilst facing increased competitivepressures. Such an environment has lead to a renaissance in Sales and OperationsPlanning (S&OP). S&OP is a decision-making process concerned with aligning thecapacity of organisations with market demand whilst integrating the process withbusiness strategy.LCP Consulting, a leading specialist in customer-driven supply chain management, hasrecognised that companies formally implement some level of S&OP but for reasonsunknown the process is often not sustained and the full benefits are not realised.Therefore, this research investigated and identified the principal factors that enable andinhibit the successful execution of S&OP.The research first analysed literature to enable a four-phase S&OP model to beconstructed that depicts the typical evolution of an S&OP initiative. Through aquantitative survey of 26 companies in the aerospace, automotive, and pharmaceuticalsectors, twelve influential factors grouped into three categories: behavioural,technological and organisational, were identified. Their level of impact on each phase ofthe S&OP initiative was subsequently quantified. From conducting structuredinterviews, the varying levels of success and maturity for seventeen key S&OPactivities were detailed. Finally the research findings and analysis were consolidatedinto a simple, practical tool that enables users to understand how to improve the successand sustainability of an S&OP initiative.The conclusion of the research states that a good understanding of the process,committed top-level management, holistic performance measures, and data that isaccurate, timely and pertinent, are the key factors that help ensure successful S&OP.Organisational complexity was found to inhibit successful S&OP, and aligning people’sbehaviours to the values of S&OP was found to be the hardest issue to address whenembarking on an S&OP initiative.