Overview of Planning Cycles
Sales and Operations Planning is a process of recurring planning cycles consisting of activities, tasks, and participants.
Manage your Sales and Operations Planning process by using the predefined, but configurable, process activities and dashboards. The planning cycle combines reviews of product development, demand, and supply with a focus on future actions, and aligns operating plan performance with financial goals.
The planning cycle combines reviews of product development, demand, and supply with a focus on future actions, and aligns operating plan performance with financial goals.
Create a sales and operations planning cycle on the Manage Planning Cycle page in the Sales and Operations Planning work area. Define your template on the Manage Planning Cycles page: What are your activities, what are the tasks, and who are the participants for each stage. You can edit the planning cycle later, as needed. Create templates from templates used in prior planning cycles, which you can configure to align with your Sales and Operations Planning process as it evolves.
The following table describes the five preconfigured review stages of a Sales and Operations Planning process that is managed by the planning cycle.
|
Review Stage |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Product Review |
Perform a cross-functional review of new products and the life cycle of maturing products. |
|
Demand Review |
Analyze forecasts for new and existing products based on the inputs from sales and marketing to reach consensus on the future unconstrained demand plan. |
|
Supply Review |
Use the latest consolidated, unconstrained demand plan and analyze the feasibility of internal and external supply capacity to fulfill demands. For example, you analyze whether there is sufficient supplier and resource capacity and inventory to balance supply with demand. |
|
Financial Review |
Compare the profitability of operational plans for the current fiscal year relative to the financial forecast target. |
|
Executive Review |
Make decisions and approve operational plans. |
The Sales and Operations Planning process does not require you to have all of the review stages. If you do not have a product review or a formal executive review, then do not add any participants or tasks for those review stages.
You can use the Configure Planning Cycle Stages dialog box to rename or hide a review stage. For example, you can rename Demand Review to Demand and Supply Balancing. To rename or hide a review stage, navigate to the Manage Planning Cycles page, open the planning cycle, and then click .