Decision making process based on Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP): a case study

The Sales and Operations Planning is one of the most important planning levels. It contributes to coordination between customer demand and operational functions. Several theoretical models of sales and operations planning have been developed and discussed in scientific research. But how companies concretely use sales and operations planning? how is the decision-making process made? Are there any parameters considered but never mentioned? The objective of this paper is to answer to all the questions through a case study of a Japanese company. We will first present a short literature review about sales and operations planning. Then we will present a S&OP model to well understand the steps of decision-making in strategic planning. As a result, we notice that the excel tables and graphs present a real support for managers to take decisions regarding production planning without referring to ERP.