All I want for Christmas is … a working S&OP process

But in today’s rapidly changing supply chains, a working S&OP process isn’t enough. Not even if it works perfectly.

Unless it has speed built in.

S&OP is one area I believe is ripe for AI help.

S&OP should be graduated from a slow, monthly, step-by-step process to an orchestrated component of your supply chains. To obtain speed, automation is required. Ideally, as orders come in, your automation should:

• Automatically check inventory status on all items ordered,
• Determine when unallocated product will be available to ship from a warehouse that optimizes time and cost and environmental impact,
• Rapidly simulate your delivery options to meet customer delivery requirements,
• Relate realistic fulfillment promises to the order placing customer, including B2B,
• Automatically update all schedules, allocations, purchasing requirements, etc. once the optimal fulfillment option is chosen,
• Share required data to automatically update planning.
• Automatically alert strategic personnel about significant demand changes in your supply chain,
• Task AI to grab new coefficients and data to better understand why.
• Update forecasts and automatically update functional and inventory planning.

Of course, guardrails should be used so that the AI doesn’t cause havoc in the supply chain by adjusting to impossible change frequencies or quantities. The beauty of attaching simulation is the ability to provide usable options staying within very real embedded guardrails without limiting real options that exist but that you may not have considered before.

AI captures variables from the outside. Simulations take that data and find usable options.

No more manual, meeting heavy, slow, monthly S&OP. It is now an automated component of your supply chain operational capabilities. Yes, it's a part of your active day-to-day, order-to-order supply chain.

You have moved from a slow reactive state to rapid proactive state.

Customers will never worry since you keep your very realistic promises made to them.

Happy Holidays.

Cynthia Kalina-Kaminsky is the CEO of Process & Strategy Solutions, a management and supply chain consulting and training firm dedicated to helping companies optimize their End2End supply chains integrating advanced tech where needed and upskilling people capabilities. You can learn more about training here