Author: Dr. İlker Guclu Latest update: 05 July 2025
Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) or Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is an integrated planning process that balances mid- and long-term supply with demand forecasts while focusing on competitiveness and profitability.
To read our article on S&OP fundamentals, click here.
S&OP enables integrated planning across the organisation and requires improved cross‑functional collaboration, aligned ways of working and supporting tools.
Many organisations label operational planning as S&OP, but they are not the same.
Operational planning is typically weekly/daily planning with horizons not exceeding 1–2 months.
Properly designed S&OP consists of tactical planning activities on 12–24 month horizons.
The S&OP process must be structured to decide on critical topics beyond the scope of operational planning.
Although implementation details vary by organisation, a typical monthly S&OP calendar broadly follows the stages below.
At each stage, critical decisions for the organization must be made systematically.
Accordingly, managers and employees from different departments have various roles and responsibilities.
Considering the scope of activities carried out and the impact of decisions made,
S&OP is the way to steer the company through competition.
S&OP's implementation in an organisation depends on various factors, including production strategies, product characteristics, production environment, supply chain relationships, customer demand patterns, and other elements affecting the organisation's competitiveness in the market.
The stages of S&OP, the flow between stages, roles and responsibilities, analysis methods, and supporting tools will vary from one organisation to another.
Optimum Planlama provides consulting services to design and implement tailored S&OP processes and supporting tools.
We recommend starting with a in-house workshop to build S&OP thinking and achieve cross‑functional alignment.
Our S&OP-related training and workshop topics include the items below.
Balance demand and supply plans through competitive tactics and cross-functional reconciliation.
Learn forecasting processes, methods and analytics through hands-on exercises.
Manage orders, capacity-material requirements and production flow better.
“Thank you very much for the training, it was very enlightening on many issues in our minds and I am sure it will contribute a lot to all of us in this process.”
“While trying to adapt to the S&OP implementation, the confusion that arose was largely eliminated with the training we received from İlker Hoca. The theoretical part of the work was explained in a simple way with examples from current practices. I think the training is very useful for the implementation phase in the future...”
“A training that must be understood by institutions whether S&OP is implemented or not.”
To view all testimonials, click here.
For S&OP/IBP consulting, please contact us or submit a quote request.
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