The following inspirational passage is extracted from an essay by Kathleen Robinson (www.krobinson.com). While it provides general counsel, it is extremely applicable to manufacturing executives scrambling to improve their bottom-line through improved sales forecasting as well as sales and operations planning processes (S&OP).

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Without a doubt, we have our work cut out for us this year, but really nothing we haven’t seen before. Doing more with fewer resources, managing change at every level, staying close to our customers, finding new opportunities for business growth and development, and covering rising costs are all familiar refrains. While the intensity of these challenges may be stronger than in the past, I believe we’ve trained for these challenges and know how to face them.

In good times, it’s relatively easy for organizations and individuals to grow and flourish. It’s the tough times that really show us what we’re made of! Like athletes who train every day to build the mindset, muscle, skill and endurance that will support them in facing career defining moments, as successful business professionals we are also ready to face the current challenges with the knowledge and skills that we’ve honed over our careers.

The fundamental business strategy of being customer focused in our business practices and decision making is more important than ever.   [ Note: Which is why Sales and Operations  Planning (S&OP) has moved to the forefront]  We all recognize that we’re here to serve our customers and meet their needs. Yet it’s easy to get away from that fundamental principle especially when we’re under pressure to meet short term financial targets. Over time we lose touch with what our customers need and want from us unless we take the time to really listen to them. Our colleague, Linda Sharp, will offer some practical tips for conducting…