News | July 14, 2008

Supply Chain Consultants Co-Sponsors Aberdeen Group Study Linking S&OP Process To Successful Business Strategies

WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new benchmark report released by Aberdeen Group and co-sponsored by Supply Chain Consultants, details how the S&OP process is helping corporate executives accomplish their overall business strategy. The report, entitled "Sales and Operations Planning: Aligning Business Goals with Supply Chain Tactics," considered four broad strategies: product differentiation, customer service differentiation, cost reduction and profitability.

According to the report, best-in-class companies are able to obtain significant competitive differentiation through maturity along dimensions of process, organization, performance measurement, and knowledge management. Best-in-class companies are:

50 percent more likely to adopt advanced demand sensing and management capabilities;
More than twice as likely to have the ability to align the S&OP plan with the company's financial goals;
50 percent more likely to have a full-time S&OP coordinator managing the S&OP process;
Three-times as likely to proactively monitor daily performance against S&OP metrics;
Twice as likely to understand business systems (ERP, advanced planning, BI) and utilize them effectively.

"Sales and Operations planning processes should be enabled by technologies that have the ability to start at the business planning level and then drill down to supply chain operational metrics," said Nari Viswanathan, research director, Aberdeen. "The S&OP process should be complemented by a strong root cause analysis and execution framework that ensures that the S&OP plan is continuously tracked with respect to the financial goals set forth by the company. In other words, the S&OP lifecycle should precede the financial reporting lifecycle of a company and should be in lock-step."

"We are pleased to support significant findings in the supply chain industry that benefit executives and organizations as a whole," stated Sujit Singh, Supply Chain Consultants' chief operating officer. "This report solidifies that an effective S&OP process is a valuable tool in driving results and optimizing efficiencies."

For a complimentary copy of the report, click here.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to AberdeenTM for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information – Opportunity – Insight – Engagement – Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

About Supply Chain Consultants
Supply Chain Consultants, founded in 1993, is a software and consulting company with headquarters in Wilmington, Del., and European operations in Antwerp, Belgium. The company provides a wide range of technology and process solutions for enhancing productivity and reducing operating costs in the supply chain. Such major corporations as Hexion, Terra Industries, Sunsweet Growers, ANADIGICS, INEOS and Akzo Nobel use SCC's Zemeter products. For more information see www.supplychain.com.