BEVOLTA, the armed branch of Sales & Operations Planning

In what is now commonly referred to as a commotion, many companies appear to be struggling, managing daily emergencies, incapable of properly anticipating and adjusting their flows to closely meet the demand. In this environment, pure player DDMRP software like BEVOLTA is attractive for the agility it offers, combined with a rethought S&OP process in Demand Driven mode.

The resurgence of S&OP, a sign that the calm waters are behind us

“80% of companies did not have Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) two years ago. And with good reason, before the COVID crisis we were managing near-linear supply chains, until the fundamentals we believed to be unchanging were overturned. S&OP then returned to the forefront, it is one of the significant developments of recent months.”

observes Jérémy Catteloin, expert engineer in supply chain management at BEVOLTA.

— Indeed, companies are approaching this new context sometimes with a “top-down” strategy through S&OP, other times in a “bottom-up” approach via the DDMRP tool. Can we summarize things like this?

Yes, S&OP is somewhat the big rock before the small rocks, sand, and water, referring to the metaphor of big rocks in the jar. Ideally, this is the order to approach things if we want to be logical. This means first addressing strategic questions, defining the key hypotheses, then making the structural choices before going further into detail.

However, in an agile world, S&OP does not provide answers on a daily basis, which is why it necessarily needs to be connected with a dynamic tool like BEVOLTA, acting as a bi-directional transmission belt. This way, the different scenarios are confronted with the reality on the ground and feedback loops are set between operational and strategic levels in a process of continuous improvement.

This dynamic approach, closely linked to the field, is what defines the DNA of the Demand Driven method to which BEVOLTA is aligned. But to fully operate, this method must permeate all levels. Including S&OP! Yet, in its traditional view, S&OP operates on the basis of a single set of forecasts. In the Demand Driven approach, we have different scenarios based on high and low hypotheses. These scenarios are filtered through the BEVOLTA simulator, contributing to the construction of a Demand Driven S&OP.

We are here in a more pragmatic, more adaptable approach, as the truth is always complex and varied, which is one of the lessons from the turbulent period we are living in. The Demand Driven S&OP precisely allows this “big picture” to be established at the board level. Once the (right) scene is set, detailed operational work can be done efficiently.

“Companies seeking us for a DDMRP pilot must understand that this pilot is just the first step towards the Demand Driven Adaptive Enterprise, the global and systemic vision in which the DDMRP software, the DDS&OP (the tactical level), and the adaptive S&OP (the strategic level) are integrated.”

concludes Jeremy Catteloin.