Interview with Shanaka Jayasinghe: Mastering S&OP and IBP for Manufacturing Resilience and Competitiveness

Interviewer: We're here with Shanaka Jayasinghe to dive deeper into how manufacturers can significantly enhance their competitive edge through effective Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) and Integrated Business Planning (IBP). Shanaka, with your extensive expertise, can you provide more tangible insights into how these strategies fortify manufacturers, especially in challenging economic climates?

Shanaka Jayasinghe: Certainly. In today's fast-evolving and often unpredictable market, manufacturers need robust and responsive planning processes. S&OP and IBP are not just about balancing demand and supply; they're strategic frameworks that, when executed with precision and depth, can transform a manufacturer's responsiveness, efficiency, and ultimately, their market position.

Expanding on the Bullwhip Effect

Interviewer: Let's start with the bullwhip effect. How does it manifest in manufacturing, and what tangible steps can S&OP and IBP take to mitigate its impact?

Shanaka Jayasinghe: The bullwhip effect in manufacturing can cause drastic fluctuations in inventory levels, production schedules, and capacity planning — all leading to inefficiency and increased costs. Effective S&OP and IBP counter this by enhancing demand visibility and improving communication across the supply chain. For instance, by integrating market intelligence, consumer trends, and real-time sales data into planning models, manufacturers can better predict and respond to demand changes, dampening the oscillations caused by over or under-reacting to market signals.

Robust Demand Planning and Supply Technologies

Interviewer: You mentioned technologies like Kinaxis and GAINS Systems as enablers. Can you provide specific examples of how these technologies have driven S&OP and IBP success?

Shanaka Jayasinghe: Absolutely. Let's take Kinaxis, for instance. One manufacturer used Kinaxis to integrate their demand planning across multiple regions, leading to a unified view of global demand. This integration allowed them to adjust production schedules proactively, reduce excess inventory, and improve fill rates. Similarly, GAINS Systems might be used to optimize inventory levels dynamically, considering factors like lead time variability and service level targets, resulting in significant working capital reductions and service improvements.

Structuring Organisations for Effective Planning

Interviewer: How should manufacturers design their organisational structure and roles to support effective S&OP and IBP?

Shanaka Jayasinghe: An effective structure is one that promotes collaboration and accountability. For instance, having a dedicated S&OP or IBP team that spans across key functions like sales, operations, finance, and procurement can foster integrated planning and decision-making. Clear roles and responsibilities, coupled with executive sponsorship, ensure that strategic objectives trickle down into operational plans and that there's a consistent focus on achieving these goals.

Executive Sponsorship and Meeting Structures

Interviewer: Could you elaborate on the importance of executive sponsorship and meeting structures in these processes?

Shanaka Jayasinghe: Executive sponsorship is vital as it underscores the company's commitment to the S&OP and IBP processes. It ensures that these initiatives receive the necessary resources and attention and that decisions made are aligned with the strategic direction of the company. As for meetings, they should be structured to facilitate strategic discussions and actionable decisions. This means having the right data at hand, ensuring cross-functional representation, and maintaining a forward-looking agenda. Regular cadence and clear documentation of decisions and action items are also crucial.

Mastering Data for S&OP and IBP

Interviewer: You touched on the importance of item master data and other data elements. Can you discuss how manufacturers can effectively manage and utilise this data?

Shanaka Jayasinghe: Data is the lifeblood of effective S&OP and IBP. Item master data, supply chain master data, and transactional data must be accurate, accessible, and consistently updated. Manufacturers can achieve this through regular data quality audits, investing in data management tools, and fostering a culture where data accuracy is everyone's responsibility. Additionally, integrating data into user-friendly dashboards and planning tools can significantly enhance its utility, providing teams with the insights needed to make informed decisions.

Project and Change Management in Implementations

Interviewer: Finally, what role do project management and change management play in implementing S&OP or IBP?

Shanaka Jayasinghe: These are critical. Project management ensures that the implementation is methodical and aligned with objectives, timeframe, and budget. It involves detailed planning, resource allocation, and risk management. Change management, on the other hand, focuses on the people aspect — preparing, equipping, and supporting individuals to successfully adopt new processes and systems. It's about communication, training, and ongoing support. Together, they ensure that S&OP and IBP implementations are not just technically successful but also embraced and sustained by the organization.

Interviewer: Your insights today have been incredibly comprehensive, Shanaka. Thank you for sharing your deep knowledge and practical advice on S&OP and IBP for manufacturers.

Shanaka Jayasinghe: It's been my pleasure. Remember, S&OP and IBP are about more than just planning; they're about creating a resilient, agile, and competitive manufacturing operation. With the right approach, technology, and commitment, they can drive remarkable improvements and set manufacturers on a path to sustained success.

Building an Effective Integrated Business Planning (IBP) Framework: Key Components and Actions

Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is a powerful approach that aligns an organisation's strategic goals with its operational capabilities, enabling better decision-making and improved performance across all functions. To achieve success with IBP, businesses need to focus on several essential components, each requiring concrete actions that ensure alignment, accountability, and efficiency throughout the organisation. This article outlines the key components of effective IBP and the actions necessary to implement them, helping companies build a robust planning framework that drives growth and resilience.

1. Process Design Choices: Laying the Foundation

The foundation of effective IBP lies in carefully designing processes that align with the organisation's Profit & Loss (P&L) objectives, while providing comprehensive coverage of the midterm horizon (3–24 months). This should be interconnected with both short-term and long-term planning to ensure a cohesive strategy.

Key Actions:

• Design for P&L Ownership: Develop planning processes that are directly aligned with the responsibilities of the P&L owner, ensuring that financial objectives are integrated into decision-making.
• Deep Coverage and Interconnected Planning: Ensure that the IBP process provides deep coverage of the midterm horizon, while remaining interconnected with short-term operational planning and long-term strategic goals.
• High-Level Operating Plan: Enable strategy execution through the creation of targets and a high-level operating plan that guides the organisation toward its objectives.
• Cadence and Alignment: Maintain a careful review cadence, including portfolio and demand, supply, financial reconciliation, and executive roll-up. Additionally, align geographic planning cadence with the supply structure to optimise global operations.

Impact on IBP:By laying a strong foundation with thoughtful process design choices, organisations can create a planning framework that drives strategic alignment and ensures that all functions are working towards common financial and operational goals.

2. Quality Inputs, Processes, and Outputs: Ensuring Consistency and Feasibility

Effective IBP relies on high-quality inputs, consistent processes, and feasible outputs that can be actioned across the organisation. This requires adherence to standard rhythms and agile forums for decision-making and issue resolution.

Key Actions:

• Standard Rhythms and Meetings: Follow standard planning rhythms, with meetings prepared in advance and attended by cross-functional decision-makers. This ensures consistency and enables effective collaboration.
• Agile Forums for Decision-Making: Implement agile forums that allow for immediate decision-making and issue resolution, ensuring that the planning process remains dynamic and responsive to changing conditions.
• Single, Feasible Plan: Constantly maintain a single, feasible demand-and-supply plan that is aligned with financial plans, ensuring that all departments are working from the same assumptions and goals.

Impact on IBP:Consistency in inputs, processes, and outputs ensures that the IBP framework remains feasible and actionable, with a clear path from planning to execution. This alignment fosters cross-functional collaboration and reduces the risk of miscommunication or conflicting priorities.

3. Accountability and Performance: Driving Results with Clear Metrics

For IBP to be effective, it must be supported by a strong focus on accountability and performance. This involves regularly defining, monitoring, and discussing metrics that drive business outcomes, as well as setting clear targets by segment.

Key Actions:

• Define and Monitor Metrics: Regularly define, monitor, and discuss metrics that are aligned with forward-looking drivers. This continuous evaluation ensures that the IBP framework remains on track and responsive to changes.
• Set Clear Targets: Set targets by segment, giving clear direction to resolve trade-offs among conflicting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This clarity helps prioritise actions and allocate resources effectively.
• Design Incentives: Create incentives that promote clear accountability, with shared metrics to encourage collaboration across stakeholders. These incentives help align individual and departmental goals with the overall success of the organisation.

Impact on IBP:By embedding accountability and performance into the IBP framework, organisations can drive better results through clear metrics and well-defined targets. This focus on performance ensures that all functions are working towards common objectives, with accountability at every level.

4. Data, Systems, and Analytics: Enabling Real-Time Decision-Making

Data, systems, and analytics are the backbone of any effective IBP framework. Integrating these elements across all functions allows for real-time decision-making and scenario planning, linking supply constraints with gross-margin risks.

Key Actions:

• System Integration: Integrate all systems and data so that information is available at any level of depth and is updated live. This ensures that decision-makers have access to the most accurate and up-to-date information.
• Scenario Planning Tools: Support scenario planning with real-time tools that link supply constraints and gross-margin risks. This capability allows organisations to anticipate potential challenges and make informed decisions that minimise risks and maximise opportunities.
• Optimise Operational Execution: Use real-time data to optimise operational execution, with automated systems detecting issues and notifying the appropriate teams. This proactive approach helps prevent disruptions and ensures that the organisation remains agile.

Impact on IBP:The integration of data, systems, and analytics enables organisations to make more informed decisions, faster. This real-time capability enhances the agility of the IBP framework, allowing companies to respond quickly to changing market conditions and internal challenges.

5. Organisation and Capabilities: Building a Cross-Functional IBP Engine

Finally, the success of IBP depends on the organisation's ability to build and maintain the necessary capabilities. This includes appointing specific process owners, promoting functional excellence, and fostering cross-functional collaboration.

Key Actions:

• Appoint Process Owners: Designate specific process owners with an integrated role across all functions. These individuals, supported by data scientists, will own the analytical engine for real-time integrated business planning inputs, scenarios, and outputs.
• Promote Functional Excellence: Encourage functional excellence, problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration at all levels of the organisation. This culture of collaboration ensures that IBP is not siloed but is instead a shared responsibility across departments.
• Develop Organisational Layers: Build the necessary organisational layers to support IBP, with clear roles and responsibilities that align with the broader strategic goals of the company.

Impact on IBP:By building strong organisational capabilities and promoting cross-functional collaboration, companies can ensure that their IBP framework is sustainable and effective. This approach helps create a cohesive planning environment where all stakeholders are engaged and accountable for the success of the IBP process.

Building a Robust IBP Framework

Effective Integrated Business Planning requires a comprehensive approach that integrates process design, quality inputs, accountability, data, and organisational capabilities. By focusing on these key components and implementing the necessary actions, companies can build a robust IBP framework that drives alignment, improves decision-making, and enhances overall performance.

Trace Consultants provides the expertise and support needed to design and implement a successful IBP framework. Whether your organisation is looking to optimise planning processes, integrate data systems, or build cross-functional capabilities, Trace Consultants can help you achieve your goals and drive sustainable growth.

For more information on how Trace Consultants can assist your organisation in building an effective IBP framework, reach out to their team of experts today.

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‍Contact us today, trace. your supply chain and procurement consulting partner.

Closing the Supply Chain Planning Capability Gap

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Has it become normal in your organisation to rely on emergency processes, like expediting or airfreighting, rather than the exception? Are your employees struggling to provide consistent customer service, despite full warehouses of stock, or working additional hours? Many businesses today face similar challenges.  

Rising mistrust in systems, use of manual overrides, and continual underperformance of new product launches signal inefficiencies within supply chains. This misalignment often leads to high levels of waste, lost sales, and diminished customer trust. Addressing these challenges requires not only identifying the symptoms but also taking a deeper dive into the root causes of supply chain misalignment. In this article, we focus on ways to identify the root causes of these problems, and how to take a structured approach to resolving them.

Common Indicators of Supply Chain Misalignment

Supply chain misalignment is often evident through symptoms that disrupt business efficiency.  Key signs include:

• Rising use of overtime: Either at DCs or Plants, issues are being resolved with extra unplanned labour

• High levels of write-offs and waste: Inventory planning gaps leading to obsolete or expired stock

• Exceptions becoming the norm: Regular use of more expensive options to meet demand such as air freighting or transferring stock between locations

• Distribution centres (DCs) at capacity with lost sales: DC operations are overwhelmed yet unable to meet demand

• Eroding trust: A lack of confidence from suppliers and customers

• Mistrust in systems: Heavy reliance on human intervention and excessive manual checks  

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Getting to the Root Cause of Supply Chain Misalignment

To truly resolve inefficiencies in supply chain operations, it’s essential to go beyond surface-level issues and identify the root causes. Misalignments can stem from a combination of structural gaps and foundational capability weaknesses, which collectively impact overall performance. By dissecting these core elements, organisations can begin to understand the critical factors holding back their supply chain from optimal functionality.

Foundational Capabilities

1. People: Does your organisation depend heavily on a few key individuals? Not only does this increase operational risk if those individuals are unavailable or leave the organisation, it can impede the organisation’s ability to undertake strategic projects

2. Processes: Are supply chain processes well-defined and followed consistently? Knowledge sharing, documenting of processes and upskilling of the whole team is critical for delivering quality outcomes.

3. Technology: Are current systems and tools fully integrated, and do they streamline key processes to support your supply chain? Relying on outdated or disconnected technologies can prevent seamless planning and execution.

4. Data & Insights: Is your data accurate and timely? Are you spending more time collecting data than analysing it? Without reliable data, supply chain decisions may be based on incorrect assumptions, leading to misaligned strategies.

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Structural Enablers  

1. Organisational Structure: Are roles and responsibilities within your supply chain clearly defined and aligned with your business model? An unbalanced structure can lead to inefficiencies or misalignment of goals and initiatives across the organisation.

2. Governance: How are supply chain decisions made, and are they aligned with the broader business strategy? Effective governance is essential for coordinating activities across the supply chain and ensuring compliance with best practices.  

3. KPIs & Incentives: What behaviours are being driven by your current KPIs and incentive structures? Misaligned KPIs can encourage actions that may benefit short-term performance but harm long-term goals, such as overemphasis on production speed at the cost of quality or customer satisfaction. Are the right performance metrics in place to encourage collaboration, efficiency, and innovation across your supply chain?

A Structured Approach to Supply Chain Planning Improvements

Effective supply chain transformation is rooted in a structured approach, designed to diagnose, design, develop, and deliver the necessary changes.

1. Diagnose

          The first step in any improvement initiative is diagnosing the current state of your supply chain.  Key activities in this phase include:

• Business process discovery

• Issue, inefficiency, and bottleneck identification

• Root cause analysis

• Impact quantification

2. Design

          Once the root causes are identified, the next step is to design tailored solutions that address those gaps. Key activities may include:

• Target state capabilities determination

• Business process and capability roadmap development

• Solution architecture design

• Business case creation

3. Develop

          After designing the necessary improvements, the focus shifts to developing the solution. This involves the hands-on building and testing of new processes, systems, or tools. Key activities in this phase include:

• Solution build and test

• Capability development

• Pilot testing and deployment planning

4. Deliver

          The final phase is delivering the solution across the entire organisation. This requires careful management to ensure that the improvements are fully implemented and deliver the expected results. Key activities to support this phase include:

• Project management and implementation support

• Change management

• Results delivery and value realisation

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Building the Business Case for Change

A robust business case forms the backbone of any successful supply chain transformation. This involves quantifying the expected benefits of improved planning capabilities.

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1. Current Capability Analysis: Evaluate the existing supply chain planning capabilities across people, processes, policies, and technology.

2. Gap Modelling: Compare the organisation’s current capabilities to improved practices, suitable to the organisations size, investment appetite and perceived ROI, identifying the areas with the most potential for improvement.

3. Targeted Business Case: Develop a business case that targets the most critical capability gaps and outlines the expected ROI.

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Typical benefits of improving supply chain planning include:

• Revenue Growth: Increased sales through improved availability and forecasting.

• Cost Reduction: Lower inventory carrying costs and a healthier mix of inventory, reducing waste and obsolescence.

• Operational Efficiency: Better labour utilisation and fewer emergency orders due to enhanced capacity management.

• Optimised Working Capital: Streamlined inventory levels, supported by improved planning processes.

Next steps

Trace Consultants have the flexibility, knowledge, and experience to provide hands-on support across any or all steps in the Supply Chain Planning Improvement process. If your organisation is experiencing any of these symptoms or seeking ways to unlock value in your supply chain, contact the trace. team today.