Oliver Wight’s Sales and Operations Planning best practices moves company cultures toward long-term, demand-driven, unified goals and strategies
New London, N.H. – September 26, 2014 – Oliver Wight announces the availability of a new customer profile detailing the success of Gordon Manufacturing’s efforts to create a cross-functional approach which aligned all company functions across a long-term horizon and significantly improved its product development process. With the help of Oliver Wight’s educational opportunities and coaching, implementation of Advanced Sales & Operations Planning – Integrated Business Planning identified revenue gaps and gave Gordon Manufacturing’s leadership the knowledge and tools to create a plan designed to focus the entire company on product innovation and streamlining processes.
Advanced Sales and Operations Planning (sometimes referred to as Integrated Business Planning or IBP) is a process led by senior management that evaluates and revises aggregated, time-phased projections for demand, supply, new product development, strategic projects, and the resulting financial plans. This is done on a monthly basis, on a planned 18+-month rolling horizon.
Gordon Manufacturing, part of Leggett & Platt’s Office Furniture Group, manufactures tilt mechanisms for office chairs. Leggett & Platt’s CEO, Karl Glassman, had experienced the benefits of Advanced S&OP with another L & P division, US Spring. He wanted to achieve the same benefits of tying operational plans with financial plans in individual Leggett & Platt businesses as well as at the corporate level.
During an introductory briefing on Sales and Operations Planning, Gordon Manufacturing’s management team realized that elements of S&OP were already in place but could be better aligned. Soon after their leadership team trained in S&OP with Oliver Wight, they began to focus on what was needed for the company to achieve its longer-term strategies and goals. An initial company-wide gap analysis exposed future revenue gaps due to a lean innovation pipeline. Their current short-term planning horizon didn’t allow time to anticipate gaps and take actions to close those gaps. Immediate action was needed.
“The S&OP process highlighted the gap in our new product development. We have now kicked off major projects to address the gap.” -Denise Johnson, Unit Controller and S&OP leader.
A stage-gate process was put in place, an 18-month rolling horizon plan developed, demand planning became more encompassing, and S&OP software, Demantra, was implemented. Leadership now trusts the data and has a means to determine whether projects are worthwhile to pursue in support of the company’s innovation strategy.
Gordon Manufacturing’s process was recently certified as a Capable Milestone toward Class A Business Excellence by Oliver Wight, based on the standards in The Oliver Wight Class A Checklist for Business Excellence. Use of the checklist also provides a framework for making periodic checks to ensure that the process continues to improve and is sustained.
No matter the size or complexity of your business, Integrated Business Planning (Advanced Sales & Operations Planning) will help you run your business better. To download this full S&OP case study, visit https://www.oliverwight-americas.com/client/gordon-manufacturing
About Oliver Wight Americas Inc.
At Oliver Wight, we believe sustainable business improvement can only be delivered by your own people; so, unlike other consultancy firms, we transfer our knowledge to you. With a track record of more than 40 years of helping some of the world’s best-known organizations, Oliver Wight will help you define your company’s vision for the future and deliver performance and financial results that last.