Is CRM Valuable?
When clients decide to upgrade ERP, they also look at CRM (customer relationship management) because it makes sense to align the technology infrastructure into a common platform that will be fully integrated and scalable.
Why Inventory Will Matter Again
Inventory is circling back in importance and will become a hot topic again as customers expect immediate, customized deliveries with the expectation of easy returns and last-minute changes to orders in production, in the warehouse or in transit. What are you doing to get ahead of this ‘new normal’ assumption?
The Value of Demand Planning
In supply chain circles, there are lots of exciting concepts to discuss and debate such as lean, master scheduling, theory of constraints and many more; however, we have found that our most successful clients start with the customer!
SIOP: How Far Should You Look into the Future?
SIOP guides strategic forecasting to determine the optimal horizon for planning and future-proofing your supply chain operations.
Lean or No Lean, a Demand Plan is a MUST
Demand planning delivers such useful information on client demand that even Lean devotees will find data on longer-term forecasts, seasonal products and trending patterns useful. Whether you are on the Lean journey or not, you need a demand plan! Prior to forming LMA Consulting Group, I was a VP [...]
The Value of Thinking about the Future instead of the Past
November 2, 2015 I was just talking with a manufacturing client on the topic of SIOP (sales, inventory and operations planning). In their case, they have an incredibly stable business - it is the most predictable business I've ever run across in terms of sales forecasts. Even though the [...]
The SIOP Conveyor Belt Analogy
The ongoing planning and adjustments integral to the SIOP is like a conveyor belt carrying along current data and processes until they become history. SIOP (Sales, inventory, & operations planning) is a methodology of sorts that aligns demand with supply – and, more importantly, the various functions of the [...]
SIOP/ Integrated Business Planning
Manufacturing and distributing product to meet customer demand can be like a puzzle unless you start using SIOP as a core process to run your business. SIOP (sales, inventory, & operations planning) taken to the best practice degree is often associated with integrated business planning. In some circles, they [...]
Where Should I Start to Ensure Demand Planning Success?
It’s easy to feel lost when you have no direction from customers about their own sales projections. Get a clearer picture through demand planning. 80% of companies are not in front of their demand. How can you decide what to plan for if you don’t know where you are [...]
Demand Planning Best Practices
A reenergized demand plan is fortified with meaningful data trends that point the way to improved service levels and increased profit margins. Sales and operations planning, also known as S&OP or SIOP (to include inventory) processes are key to improving service levels, accelerating cash flow and increasing margins. Thus, [...]