A Professional Guide to Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP)

While the S&OP process is designed to streamline operations, many companies struggle with ineffective execution.

S&OP is an integrated business management process designed to align supply and demand through cross-functional collaboration. It fosters organizational consensus by ensuring that sales, operations, finance, and other key departments work toward a unified goal.

The Five Steps of S&OP

According to the Association for Supply Chain Management, the S&OP process consists of five essential steps:

1. Data Collection & Management – Gather key data, including sales forecasts, inventory levels, production capacity, and financial objectives. Review previous plans for insights.
2. Demand Planning – Forecast future demand for products and services. (Check out this post on demand planning for CPG brands.)
3. Supply Planning – Determine the optimal production or procurement levels required to meet anticipated demand.
4. Plan Reconciliation – Compare demand and supply plans to identify potential gaps and address discrepancies.
5. Plan Approval & Execution – Finalize and distribute the approved plan across the organization to ensure alignment and accountability.

Once these steps are completed, execution begins.

Challenges in S&OP Implementation

One of the primary reasons for failure is that meetings focus on discussion rather than decision-making. This often leads to unnecessary meetings without meaningful outcomes.

Key challenges in implementing an effective S&OP process include:

• Ensuring access to accurate and reliable master data
• Collecting and analyzing relevant sales and operational inputs
• Establishing strong leadership and accountability
• Gaining commercial engagement and cross-functional buy-in

Choosing the Right Technology for S&OP

The foundation of a successful S&OP process lies in data integration. Many brands rely on traditional EDI providers for this, such as SPS Commerce and TrueCommerce, which offer extensive retail network integrations. However, these solutions often require significant time and resources to configure for each trading partner.

More agile and modern solutions, such as Pantry AI, offer a more efficient alternative that are most cost-effective to implement, easier to assemble, and is easy to use even for a non-technical team member.

How Pantry AI Enhances S&OP Processes

In many organizations, sales and operations teams operate in silos, each using different terminologies and focusing on conflicting priorities. While sales teams may push for a retail launch, operations teams may be concerned about excess inventory and spoilage.

Pantry AI provides a unified platform to bridge these gaps, offering a single source of truth for planning. By integrating real-time data across sales, operations, marketing, and finance, businesses can improve forecasting accuracy and ensure strategic alignment across departments.

For companies looking to streamline their S&OP process, Pantry AI offers a modern, intelligent solution to improve decision-making and operational efficiency.