Mike Pape - Cabot

Mike Pape

Does your S&OP process require you to integrate plants across a global organization?  Do you have multiple forecasts for different functions and possibly different regions?  Increasingly, companies are challenged to lead the S&OP process across a global multi-national company.

As everyone is aware the S&OP process starts with an accurate forecast.  While there is no magic button to increase accuracy there are benefits to having one forecast that is used by Sales, Operations and Finance.  Measuring accuracy of the forecast is critical to driving ownership which leads to an improved forecast.

Once you align on a forecast then you need to drive that across the global organization.  If you have an integrated planning system you can quickly identify how the new demand impacts production and purchases across the entire supply chain.  As many companies experienced in 2009 the ability to quickly react to a changing demand is important for survival.

As a public company the ability to understand the Financial impact of the business plan is just as critical as defining your Operations plan.  Using a single source of data across Sales, Operations and Finance provides one source of truth and enables functions to align on the best direction for the company.

I’ll be speaking more about this journey at the APICS & IBF Best of the S&OP Conference taking place in Chicago, June 18-19, 2015.  S&OP is an ongoing journey and we will share what we have been able to accomplish as we proceed along our path to improve our business planning.  In this discussion we will review a global process that leverages a common set of data to drive the S&OP process. We will also review a global S&OP process and the technology used to develop an integrated plan.

Mike Pape
Director Global Planning & Logistic
Cabot Microelectronics