S&OP Checklist

How To Implement

What to Implement

How To Implement S&OP

1. Project team - we have identified the executive champion, steering committee or executive group responsible for supporting and monitoring progress, and the design team responsible for implementing S&OP. The design team is cross-functional and includes people from sales and marketing, manufacturing/materials/logistics, as well as finance. (Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices Chapter 5)

2. Initial education – we have provided a common understanding and vision for our executives and our design team through a facilitated workshop or workshops. (See education and assessment)

3. Independent advice – we have engaged a knowledgeable third part to review our progress periodically. (See consulting)

4. Project organization – we have developed an action plan with due dates and assigned responsibilities, and have scheduled a periodic review of progress. The periodic review is conducted by the executive champion. (Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices Chapter 5)

5. Education and training – we have done education and training for all the key participants before the pilot and cut-over. (See S&OP Instructors’ Manual, MPS Instructors’ Manual)

6. Data collection – we have designed a way to get actual sales, shipment, production and inventory data at the beginning of each S&OP cycle. (See Sales and Operations Planning Standard System Chapter 9)

7. Display formats – we have designed and developed appropriate S&OP formats, as well as rough cut planning displays and financial interfaces. (See Sales and Operations Planning Standard System Chapters 2-3, 5-6, 8, and S&OP Handbook Chapter 14)

What To Implement

1. We have identified appropriate families - considering our value streams, markets, and business structure - that allow effective decision-making and communication. (See Sales and Operations Planning Standard System Chapter 2)

2. We have active participation from the appropriate executives and middle managers – from sales and marketing, manufacturing and logistics, finance, etc. (Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices Chapter 5)

3. We know time fences and the limits to our flexibility and consider them in managing change. (See Sales and Operations Planning Standard System Chapter 4)

4. Our process recognizes bookings and shipments (planned and actual) as being different and includes both. We have visibility into supply (manufacturing or outsourced products) and the consequences in terms of inventory or backlog. (Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices Chapter 6 and S&OP Handbook Chapter 5)

5. We have a defined strategy – make-to-stock, make-to-order, finish-to-order – and the tools to support it for each family. (Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices  Chapter 6)

6. We’ve defined appropriate metrics to measure success and drive improved performance. (See Sales and Operations Planning Standard System Chapter 7 and S&OP Handbook Chapter 17)

7. We have defined policies for managing change and for dealing with exceptional circumstances (See Sales and Operations Planning Standard System Chapter 4)

8. We have a defined procedure that specifies detailed responsibilities, the detailed steps, activities and meetings in the process, including the time targets for each (See Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices Chapter 3 and S&OP Handbook Chapter 11)

9. We have defined agendas for each step in our process (See Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices Chapter 5 and S&OP Handbook Chapters 6 and 7)

10. Demand planning includes input from sales, from marketing, from customer service – and reconciliation of aggregate demand numbers with detailed forecasts. Sales and marketing people actively participate in determining fulfillment strategies and setting policies. (See Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices Chapter 5 and S&OP Handbook Chapter 4)

11. New product planning and status review is a key part of the S&OP process. (Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices Chapter 6)

12. We have identified key assumptions to our plans, have documented them, and continue to monitor whether they remain appropriate (Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices Chapter 5)

13. Our process acts as a regulator of detailed mix oriented processes and is linked to detailed forecasting and master scheduling (Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices Chapter 2)

14. We project long term capacity requirements so that equipment purchases, hiring decisions, training and cell redesign can be done in advance of a crisis or problem. (See Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices Chapter 9 and S&OP Handbook Chapter 5)

15. We can evaluate the financial consequences of our potential decisions before committing to them. (See Sales and Operations Planning Standard System Chapter 7)

16. Our financial planning processes and budgeting, as well as current year projections of results, are tied to S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices Chapter 11)

17. We use the best information available – from manufacturing, sales and marketing, finance, etc. - to make decisions, and then we communicate those decisions to everyone involved as a routine part of the S&OP process (Sales and Operations Planning – Best Practices Chapter 5)

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