At its inception, the goal of the Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process was to get organizations operating on “one plan.” The realization was that often more than one version of the plan existed, creating confusion and miscommunication. The key to success for S&OP centered on executive efforts to break down resistance to change and ensure support from all functional areas.

Even though Sales and Operations Planning  process is not new, the need to have a formal plan in place is increasing in value and importance. This Aberdeen group report examines the level of S&OP process maturity reported in the July 2012 survey Sales and Operations Planning and Integrated Business Planning. The report highlights areas of top performance for Best-in-Class companies and identifies the gaps that need to be closed for those in the All Other category.

Top pressures being faced by all companies are:
- Customer mandates for faster and more accurate fulfillment
- Need to reduce supply chain operating costs
- Better integration between planning and execution
- Need to improve top line revenue

Two of the top pressures indicate that the need for speed is increasing, pushed by external, customer-driven forces. This paper clarifies how Sales and Operations Planning will continue to evolve toward a process that highlights and measures performance exceptions on an event-driven, near real-time basis. It reveals that companies without a robust S&OP process need to act now to close the gap in capabilities and management support in order to stay competitive.