Which S&OP software packages appear to deliver the best results?
There were a variety of ERP software packages used by companies successful with S&OP. So by definition, all these various packages support success. Most companies successful with S&OP do NOT use any commercial software package or module for S&OP. Most develop their own S&OP functionality based on customized Excel spreadsheets, and Access databases. This reinforces our experience of over 29 years of consulting, that no one software package has a significantly better track record than another. The real issue is not the tool, but how well the users are trained and managed to use the tool effectively. IM3. Can you give us some advice or guidance regarding S&OP families, especially in light of their use for sales planning and financial planning? How many S&OP families make sense in a typical company? The aggregate, quantitative information in S&OP should be able to be compared easily to your financial, business and strategic planning numbers used by senior management, finance, and the sales
