Managing People, Process, and Tools:
When implementing S&OP projects, we found there were three elements that must come together: People, Process and Tools. Putting these elements together in the right sequence is critical to getting a new and effective S&OP process in place. When considering how these elements come together, it’s helpful to think of your S&OP implementation as going through three phases: Engaging, Expanding, and Elevating.
Any complex change, especially something like a new S&OP process, that involves multiple people across different levels and different departments in an organization getting the balance right, at the right time is important. How much you focus, or prioritize on people, process OR technology will depend on your level of maturity. To help you understand what to focus on, and when, we developed the Change Maturity Continuum.
Let me preface, getting the balance between these 3 elements alone, will not provide the pathway to successful change, and an effective S&OP process – you need a clear vision of your goal and a defined pathway to get there. You can refer to our previous blog about the making change happen series. ( The Change Model – especially if you want to implement an S&OP process).
The Three Phases of Change
Now, let’s define what should be the key focus in each of the stages of maturity on the people, process and tools Change Maturity continuum.
Engaging Stage:
We define the first stage of maturity as the Engaging stage. In this zone, we lay down the foundation for change with the primary focus on People, supported with some process and technology.
This is where organizational alignment is set throughout all the teams and departments involved in S&OP project. People begin to learn their roles and responsibilities as part of the change. Change can be hard, and people may not want to do something new which is why it’s important to have all the key stakeholders – CEOs, Managers, S&OP Coordinators, Demand Planners etc. - on board.
People need to have a clear understanding of the reason for implementing an S&OP process, what it will look like and how to execute it. This can be done through education, hands-on experience and coaching. Along with this, having a well-defined process that will guide people toward the end goal is essential. This combined with technology can be quickly implemented and seamlessly get your change off to a good start. Through our clearly defined S&OP process – the emPPPower Methodology, this is exactly what our team at DBM systems helps organizations to do.
We help you to define what the end state for an S&OP process will look like in YOUR organization, provide the education and coaching for people to know exactly what their roles are through the process and provide quick-to-implement, easy to understand S&OP tools, specifically the 5 Section Sheet.
Expanding Stage:
We define the 2nd stage as the Expanding Stage. You start to expand the engagement with a larger team, and potentially a broader scope.
With S&OP, you will be running a monthly, repeatable process, it will be imperfect, but improving with every month, or every iteration. In this stage people have a clear understanding and ownership of their roles as part of the process and are becoming more comfortable with utilizing tools to make the process happen.
In the emPPPower program, this stage is where the S&OP team is running cycles of a repeatable and sustainable S&OP process for the defined S&OP family independently. They are demonstrating the ability to execute the process and are using the tools to make change happen! They are also starting to expand the process to additional families beyond the initial pilot.
Elevating Stage:
Finally, we reach the third and final Elevating Stage where the focus is less on the people and process, and more on the tools or technology. This can look like involving the IT team to create more integrated tools that make the process quicker and provide deeper ongoing insights using analytical tools that identify progress on KPIs.
By this time, the team is clear on how you are running the process, so automation and tools are focused in the area where they are needed most. In the emPPPower program, we provide you foundational S&OP tools so that when you get to this stage you have Clarity on what is required to take your process to the next level.
You can see that change requires a lot of elements running in sync to make it happen – and to do it well, you need to shift the focus in each area until it is well established.
Otherwise, you’ll be working on everything at once – and nothing will get done. So when you start your S&OP process, put the heaviest investment first in your team – the people who will make it happen, then focus on establishing a clear repeatable process, and finally support the process with easy to integrate S&OP tools.
Manage Change in Your Organization
If your S&OP implementation is off-track, step back and ensure that:
You aren't doing everything all at once
You are prioritizing the important parts in the correct stages of change
You have all key stakeholders on board
If you want change and a sustainable S&OP process, reach out to us! We can help. We provide education and coaching for your team, a clearly defined process to get you to your final goal and the S&OP tools to get you started. Send us a message to discuss what this can look like in your organization.
At DBM Systems, our consultants have over 20 years of experience providing S&OP leadership to businesses worldwide. We equip teams with coaching and the tools to quickly start and sustainably run an effective S&OP process. Learn about our process and unlock the power of S&OP in your organization.