8 Measures for Sales and Operations Planning in Turbulent Times, Part 3

Reading time ( words)

In this series, CEPHAS principal Fane Friberg highlights the interdependent elements of an effective S&OP process for leaders of supply chain management. While some companies tend to fall back on the status quo, Freiberg highlights why it’s critical to actually increase the frequency of the S&OP rather than decrease the operations. He has reviewed the importance of staying committed and strategic imperatives. Today, he discusses participation.

Focus #3: Participation

You cannot have an effective S&OP meeting without sales. It is critical that all department leaders, at a minimum, are actively participating in the process. During this crisis, Morgan Stanley is projecting that for the U.S., the GDP will decline by 30%, and unemployment could potentially exceed 12% ^[1]. Thus, weekly S&OP meetings are strongly suggested.

In addition to the sales team (field and inside), the supply chain operations team is very key in this collaboration. With the sourcing team keeping the enterprise aware of the ever-changing events and supply with their networks, this also may include having to find replacement supply for companies that have not been able to sustain the economic pressures from the pandemic.

Again, the manufacturing operations teams must leverage the demand and forecast to ensure that they have ample humans, machines, methods, and materials to fill what may be a shift in the demand profile. The biggest challenge is to stay actively aware of and compliant with all state and federal regulations on workplace safety for the essential workers. As there are changes in the workforce availability, operations must candidly keep the other members of the S&OP process aware of any changing dynamics that may hinder the fulfillment of the desired customer experience.

Finance and executive leadership will always have to ensure a robust infrastructure and processes to provide remote workforces real-time access to critical information, data, and business performance, as well as necessary methodologies for quickly communicating when variations are required to execute actionable real-time modifications.

Subsequently, the S&OP participants will aggregate these data points to determine the strategic and economic direction of the organization focused on safety, effective communication, customer, and shareholder expectations. As with any plan, the enterprise will be expected to use real-time understanding to quickly react to any disruptions within the business cycle.

References

1. C. Reinicke, “Morgan Stanley now thinks U.S. GDP will shrink 30% next quarter as coronavirus pushes unemployment to historic highs,” Business Insider, March 23, 2020.

Fane Friberg is principal of CEPHAS.

To read Part 1 of this series, click here.

03/21/2023 | Dan Beaulieu, D.B. Management Group

I have always felt that automation has the potential to make a big difference in our PCB industry, especially domestically, where labor is at premium. For the past year, I have been looking for the story of how automation can and will make a significant difference in established PCB shops. I was fortunate enough to find that story in Multicircuits, located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Only a few short years ago, this company was considered a “plain vanilla” PCB fabricator holding its own in our industry; now it has suddenly assumed a true leadership position in the industry in terms of capability, technology, operations, and profitability.

03/08/2023 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007

In this conversation with Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, we spoke with John Hendrickson, engineering director; Frank Harrill, vice president of security; and Jessi Hall, senior director of vertical engineering. We wanted to learn more about the best practices they developed while specifying, selecting, and preparing to install an entire facility’s worth of equipment all at the same time.

02/27/2023 | Pete Starkey, I-Connect007

The EIPC Winter Conference returned to the Metropolis of Lyon in eastern France this month. In 2018, the venue was Villeurbanne in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Five years later the setting was the Groupama Stadium in Décines-Charpieu, and leaders of the European printed circuit community gathered in expectation of a spectacular programme of 16 presentations, a visit to a nuclear power station, and an invaluable networking opportunity. They weren’t disappointed.