S&OP Software solutions

Excel planning

For small and/or early-stage companies, planning in Excel is an excellent solution. Thanks to its flexibility and widespread familiarity, Excel offers many advantages. Almost everyone knows how to use it and already has it installed on their computer. As a result, implementation time is very limited.

Setting up a suitable planning model in Excel does require some careful thought. A good first step is to separate demand forecasting, inventory, and production/purchasing. The model can then be made increasingly sophisticated by, for example:

• Adding a forecasting algorithm
• Linking all outcomes together
• Incorporating production capacity
• Automatically connecting to data sources such as inventory and orders
  
  

However, Excel’s greatest strength is also its weakness: files may be saved incorrectly, a column might be deleted, or other issues may occur. Despite options to secure files, this will remain a challenge.

Excel +

The Excel planning tool can be supplemented with other applications to improve the process. Examples of tools that enhance forecasting are Forecast X by John Galt (https://johngalt.com/forecastx) and Log-hub (https://log-hub.com/supply-chain-apps/). These apps can be integrated into Excel and apply more advanced algorithms, thereby improving forecast accuracy.

Of course, a solid process (such as a clear step-by-step plan and active interaction with sales) and a skilled forecaster remain crucial. In addition, the data generated in the Excel sheet can be visualized and shared through reporting tools such as Power BI, making report sharing both easier and more powerful.

Mid-market

In recent years, the mid-market segment of the S&OP software market has grown significantly. Due to increasing demand, including from SMEs, opportunities have emerged for players other than the large corporate solutions. The advantages of these tools are often shorter implementation times, simpler data models, and lower costs. Naturally, the technical and functional capabilities are more limited, but this does not necessarily have to be an issue.

Some examples are:

• https://www.streamlineplan.com/
• https://intuendi.com/
• https://www.netstock.com/
• https://www.remira.com/
• https://flowlity.com/

Premium software

Corporate organizations with complex supply chains (multiple product categories, production sites, markets, and many suppliers) often have extensive requirements for an S&OP solution. In such cases, a product with broad functionality is the best fit, placing them in the premium segment of the market. Gartner has been monitoring this market for many years and annually publishes the Gartner Magic Quadrant, which tracks the latest developments.

Examples include:

• https://omp.com/
• https://www.kinaxis.com/
• https://www.logility.com/
• https://www.relexsolutions.com/

How to select

Which S&OP solution best fits your company strongly depends on your specific situation.

Some key factors to consider are:

1. How many products are in the assortment?
2. Is the product purchased or produced?
3. At how many locations is inventory held?
4. In the case of production: how many production lines are there?
5. How many different raw materials are involved, and from how many suppliers are they purchased?

(This serves only as a very rough guideline — a specific assessment is always necessary.)

To select the right supplier, we follow the following step-by-step approach:

1. Determine critical functional and technical requirements
   1. Which functions are essential for the company
   2. How the product will operate technically (on-premise, cloud, SaaS, etc.)
   3. Requirements for (data) security
   4. Support
2. Evaluate various packages through an RFQ
3. Demonstrations
4. Optional: Proof-of-concept
5. Selection and contracting