Planning and Forecasting Work Hand in Hand

This column discusses the importance of establishing an unbiased, professionally run organization to support a Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) team. While surveys consistently show that supply chain managers consistently rank forecast accuracy at the top of the list of things that need the most improvement, this in reality is largely wishful thinking on their part. Despite the fact that forecast accuracy will always be less than desirable, unbiased updated forecasts are needed to support the S&OP team that is essentially responsible for re-charting a course to meet annual corporate financial targets.