Sales and Operations Planning Software unifies all relevant business unit plans into one connected platform. Different teams need access to the same data to view and model it in various ways to make decisions for their function. Having a single source of data ensures the alignment of the overall business objectives.
Sales and Operations Planning Software are either desktop or cloud-based solutions. The software integrates the plans and signals from sales, finance, production, marketing, and supply chain.
Most Sales and Operations Planning Software provides the following capabilities:
Integrated Planning and Collaboration
Cloud-based Sales and Operations Planning Software helps organizations integrate their plans from all business areas. It allows for the broad community of people, including sales, marketing, vendors, and suppliers, to work from the same, updated information, and refine it in real-time.
The software gives an organization the ability to see its business’s current state at any given time.
Forecasting and Scenario Planning
Forecasters and Planners want to understand the risk and benefits of different plans and the effects those plans will have on the entire supply chain. S&OP Planning software facilitates this process by allowing you to run scenarios such as new products or suppliers, alternate routes, and see the effects on inventory, delivery times, and labor resources. The software gives you insight into the impact of decisions on every part of the business. It allows you to update and refine your forecasts with current information automatically. You can drill down to more detailed information at the product or location levels.
Reporting
Most S&OP software solutions offer dashboards and reporting to give you end to end visibility of your supply chain performance. Dashboards and data for each major functional area are at your fingertips and can often be customized for the level of detail you need – from a planner to an executive. You have access to the integrated plan and can see any changes or refinements that have been made and what areas they affect. The information is designed to help leaders effectively manage their business functions with accurate and real-time data.