Integrated Business Planning (IBP) (and its forerunner Sales and Operations Planning or S&OP) have traditionally been perceived and managed as tactical, supply-chain centred processes. However, as I have outlined in various articles, IBP builds a number of enterprise capabilities which drive competitive advantage. With respect to the Finance function in particular, IBP represents a valuable enabler as outlined below. Key Roles for the Finance Function – Planning & Business

Organisations face an ever-increasing series of challenges in order to build sustainable and profitable business. These challenges are manifested in various aspects of business operations but especially in planning. As outlined in my previous article ‘Evolving S&OP for the Real World’, the VUCA [1] environment creates a requirement for businesses to plan strategically but also maintain the capability to flex dynamically to manage increasing levels of unpredictability and unc

In my previous posts, I have discussed the challenges in deploying an effective S&OP/IBP process which are experienced by organisations across all sectors. These challenges mean that S&OP/IBP rarely delivers the enterprise benefits that were envisioned for the process when it was first conceived and codified by Dick Ling in the 1980s. Perhaps the most common, and significant, challenge to the execution of an impactful enterprise S&OP/IBP process is the lack of cross-function

In my previous post Evolving S&OP/IBP for the Real World, I outlined the key challenges in deploying S&OP/IBP and how these result from both traditional approaches to supply chain planning and from emerging environmental trends. In this article, I introduce an innovative and increasingly-adopted approach to S&OP and explain how this addresses these challenges. The Demand Driven operating model (incorporating Demand Driven MRP and Demand Driven S&OP) has received increasing a

It is widely reported that only a small proportion (typically around 30%) of S&OP/IBP deployments deliver and sustain the full business benefits expected by organisations. This finding is also commonly recognised by the practitioners of these processes, who describe the various workarounds and firefighting required to create and execute optimal plans for the business. Whilst this is not a new phenomenon, some emerging trends have increased (and continue to increase) the bar

Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) and Integrated Business Planning (IBP) are often seen as fundamentally supply-chain centred processes which offer somewhat limited direct benefit to other functions, especially Commercial and Finance. The criticality of cross-functional collaboration in S&OP/IBP is also often overlooked. However, a good S&OP/IBP process offers major benefits outside the supply chain function. My previous post highlighted the key outcomes for Commercial lea

My experiences as a commercial leader deploying S&OP/IBP have illustrated very clearly the critical need for cross-functional engagement and collaboration, especially between the supply chain, commercial and finance functions. However, it is also clear to me from speaking to supply chain professionals across industry sectors that S&OP is often still deployed and promoted internally as a supply chain process which other functions are asked to support and participate in. My vi

It is now widely recognised that S&OP (or its successor IBP) is much more than a specialist supply chain process and requires a high degree of cross-functional partnership and collaboration across the organisation to deliver lasting results. This aspect of S&OP is also recognised as being the most challenging to deliver and sustain. Whilst there is plenty of practical advice and guidance on some of the more mechanical aspects of the S&OP process (such as process design or ar