It’s been a bumpy ride for High Tech companies in the last two years. Although much of the disruption and volatility was unique in “magnitude”, the types of challenges experienced have been faced in the past. I believe that the pandemic simply put a focus on the need to anticipate disruption as part of the “new normal” and to develop organizational agility and resilience to respond more consistently.
There are many initiatives now under way within companies that range from increasing operational efficiencies to developing virtual twins of products and facilities. One area of focus that should be prioritized is Sales and Operations Planning. In essence, this process gets right to the heart of some of the biggest challenges faced in recent history:
- How can we effectively forecast demand when it’s so volatile?
- Where do we need to build vs. buy given constrained supplies?
- Will we be able to meet customer demand given unanticipated disruption?
- How do we bring our internal stakeholders together to meet both operational and business goals?
The complexity and pace of High Tech industry and products make answering any of these questions extremely difficult. In companies where S&OP planning is still based on manual processes and spreadsheets, the problems are essentially impossible to solve effectively.
Companies are now turning to optimization and collaborative environments where they can start to evolve their S&OP processes from manual silos of planning, to value-based integrated processes that align the business around common objectives.
The results achieved provide continuous improvements in how to better anticipate demand and improve customer service levels, while reducing inventory costs and inefficiencies. In fact, best in class S&OP companies are often achieving double digit increases in sales revenue and customer service levels. However, the evolution involves a transformation of process as well as technology. Effective S&OP requires the inclusion of diverse stakeholders across the organization and reaching a best-in-class ability involves a unique blend of technology and process.
What are the critical capabilities that companies need to consider when trying to transform their S&OP process? Join us for this discussion and examples of excellence in S&OP by attending the webinar “Success in volatile markets: How High Tech companies can optimize their S&OP process”. The discussion will include the following key elements:
- Industry trends and challenges relevant to High Tech
- How S&OP is defined and applied in different High Tech segments
- The critical capabilities that companies should consider
- The evolution to “best-in-class” S&OP processes
- Examples of achieved benefits and value
We will also include some demonstrations from the DELMIA S&OP solution to show how it’s possible to model and optimize the complexities of High Tech supply chains.
Watch the re-play here.