Sales and Operations Planning(S&OP)

S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning) is the monthly cross-functional process where a CPG company reconciles its commercial forecast (what Sales says they'll sell) with its operations plan (what the supply network can actually produce and ship) and its financial plan (what the P&L is signed up to deliver).

The output is a single number per SKU per period that everyone agrees to. Sales pre-sells against it. Operations produces against it. Finance reports against it. When the three plans don't reconcile, the S&OP meeting forces the trade-offs: add a shift, defer a launch, build safety stock, accept a service-level miss on a non-strategic SKU.

A working S&OP process typically runs five monthly meetings: data review, demand review, supply review, integrated reconciliation, and the executive S&OP where the GM makes final calls. Companies with real S&OP discipline run inventory at 30 to 50% lower than peers and hit forecasts within 10%. Companies without it run on heroics: expensive expedites, last-minute production swaps, and chronic stockouts.

The function is usually owned by Supply Chain or by a dedicated S&OP Manager / Director sitting between Supply Chain, Demand Planning, Finance, and Commercial. At more mature companies, this often evolves into IBP (Integrated Business Planning), which adds a longer-horizon strategic view to the same cycle.

S&OP talent is the single hardest profile to recruit in CPG operations right now. Demand outstrips supply at every level.

Roles where this matters: Supply Chain, Demand Planning, S&OP Manager, IBP Manager, Operations.