In the current pandemic environment, many assumptions have changed and forecasting
and planning have become harder. It is a given that, as the environment around you changes, so should your approach to
planning. This does not, however, mean that you need to reinvent proven S&OP techniques and processes; rather, you should
understand what outputs have changed and trace these back to a changed correlation in inputs. Value Chain Management
—where we take a holistic view of the entire product lifecycle, combining demand and supply planning and supporting them
with S&OP—is our foundation for successfully navigating supply/demand shocks. This article will reveal how such a process is
well-placed to react quickly and effectively in such circumstances and, when complimented by a three-step framework that
considers input fidelity, S&OP frequency, and changed latency of levers and constraints, we can manage the unprecedented
disruptions caused by Covid-19.