Previous Webcasts--
Guidelines for S&OP in the Multi-site Enterprise
Wednesday,January 11, 2006, 2pm Eastern, 11am Pacific
Principal Speakers
Share Green, Director, Program Management, Teledyne Technologies EMS , Glen Margolis, SVP Services, Steelwedge Software
Click here to view recording

Three Keys to Successful S&OP
Wednesday, October 26, 1pm Eastern, 10am Pacific
Principal Speakers
Tim Vaio, Managing VP,
Hitachi Consulting
Seema Phull, Director
Process & Technology,
Enterasys Network
Click here to view recording


State-of-the-Art Sales Forecasting Management
September 13, 1pm Eastern, 10am Pacific
Principal Speakers -
Professor J. Tom Mentzer, University of Tennessee
Todd Jones, Sr. Director
Sales Operations, QLogic
Click here to view recording

Sandhill.com Nov 28, 2005
A Hybrid Strategy for
On-Demand Success
By Timothy Campbell

Manufacturing Business Technology (MBT) November 2005
Cover Story: Balancing Supply & Demand
By Sidney Hill, Jr.

Baseline Magazine (11/08/05)
Air Products in the Pipeline
By Mel Duval, 11/08/05

START Magazine July-August 2005
Looking Forward: Forecasting and Consensus Planning
By Christine Pfefferle, Director of Global Demand and
Order Management

Turbo Charging Your Sales Forecasting Process
By Anil Gupta, The Applications Marketing Group

The Sales Funnel - a Critical Part of the Demand Planning Process
By EJ Tavella, Senior Director
of Business Development, Steelwedge Software

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Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) for OEMs in an Global, Outsourced Manufacturing Environment

Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) is designed to bring together key departments (e.g., finance, production, sales, marketing, transportation, and procurement) to develop a single business plan that allows companies to balance supply and demand, and to better manage corporate performance.  While S&OP is an important process for any type of manufacturing organization, companies that have outsourced their manufacturing to strategic partners (Original Equipment Manufacturers or “OEMs”) face unique challenges and require distinct processes.

Moreover, globalization and margin pressures are driving OEM organizations to develop increasingly sophisticated S&OP processes. Consumer products organizations such as Nike and Reebock, which adopted an outsourced approach long ago, and leading high technology manufacturers such as Juniper Networks, Tellabs, and Cisco Systems are being forced to respond to these pressures.   

The Importance of Exception-Based Planning

(Editors Note: This is the third and last of three articles on change management and leadership in conducting effective Sales and Operations Planning [S&OP] as a dynamic business process in manufacturing.)

Executive Summary
Only when leaders have taken ownership and responsibility for
the needed changes can the organization assure meeting its objectives. Ultimately, the goal of involving leaders early, and throughout the course of the strategic change, is to mitigate
the risk of not achieving ROI
and long-term sustainable improvement. It takes effort from both the project team and the leaders themselves.