Are We Trying to Make S&OP Too Big? Beware S&OP Overreach

Since the pandemic, S&OP has seen further adoption and is increasingly recognized as a proven method to manage demand and supply variability. But have we stretched the scope of this planning process too far? Recently, many articles have been published that advocate for S&OP’s management of FP&A, Master Planning, New Product Development, and even commercial strategy. In this article I make the case that S&OP is designed to be the connective tissue between different planning processes and that S&OP adds the most value by integrating stand- alone functions and facilitating transfer of information, rather than setting the agenda for the entire enterprise.