From sales planning to Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP)

  • 24.04.2024
  • Dortmund
Agenda The content modules:
  • Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP)
  • Spoilt for choice: sales forecast vs. statistical forecast
  • From gut feeling to systematics: work structuring, forecasting and safety stock procedures
  • Repair kit: How to obtain useful historical data for a sales forecast
  • When exceptions become the rule: How to deal with new parts forecasts and end-of-life predictions
  • Making forecasts digestible: The planned value distribution prepares forecast data for scheduling
  • A look into the system: Understanding software-supported forecasting processes using an example
  • Artificial intelligence in sales and demand planning. What it can do and where its limits lie
The target group This seminar is aimed at

Managers and executives in the areas of materials management, scheduling, controlling, supply chain management, sales, logistics, purchasing, production planning and production. The seminar is also
Interesting for IT managers, IT project managers, business experts, business analysts, data generators and recipients in the specialist department and management consultants.

If the topic of “S&OP” and “forecast quality” is relevant in your company or if you are tasked with tackling the topic and want to find out what options are available to you for optimizing this, you should attend our seminar to gain compact and competent experience and knowledge.

The market is on its knees and stocks remain high! Is there a clear signal that sales forecasting is not working properly in many companies? Companies with a functioning sales forecast have reacted more quickly to both the onset of the recession and the recovery of the market. A consistent planning process is particularly important when demand fluctuates and procurement markets are unreliable. Consistent and consistent action can only be taken if everyone involved has the same view of the situation. Despite everything, many decision-makers underestimate the importance of sales forecasting for a company’s success:

On the one hand, you come across companies that think they are adequately positioned with their own know-how and existing ERP system and don’t even realize how bad they are because they didn’t let themselves be shown how good they could be. On the other hand, some companies believe that in the age of market-synchronized production, sales forecasting is no longer necessary and that poor delivery readiness or high inventories can be blamed on the inadequate performance of their planning. But how do you know how to set sail (= plan) if you don’t know which way the wind (= future requirements) is blowing?

All planning in the company and all logistical goals, from reducing stock levels to ensuring delivery readiness, from adherence to delivery dates to optimum capacity utilization, are based on a reliable sales and demand forecast. The sales department alone is rarely able to provide reliable sales forecasts. It is therefore important to develop sales and demand forecasts from suitable consumption histories of your own articles and to integrate sales into the forecasting process in a meaningful way. The forecasting capabilities of practically all ERP systems are very limited and usually do not meet practical requirements: ERP systems only use statistical methods, which usually assume a non-existent “normally distributed” demand. In addition, forecast values, delivery readiness and safety stock are not determined in an integrated manner.

Our speaker, Professor Kemmner, will not only show you how to do it better and how to deal with incoming and outgoing articles, but will also actively engage in a discussion with you. In the seminar, you will also find out what possibilities are already available today through the use of artificial intelligence in sales forecasting and where the limits lie.