S&OP Implementation: Real Life Case Study at a European Retailer

There are several key success factors for effective Sales and Operations Planning , including visible executive leadership, alignment in objectives, interdepartmental collaboration, and discipline in implementation. This article is a practical guide to the important points of S&OP implementation with a real-life case study at a European office supplies retailer. I reveal the challenges faced, including the resistance of the commercial function to change, as well as how to conceptualize and communicate the value of S&OP, namely that it a business management model that facilitates decision making—and not just an operations ...