Sales and Operations Planning Professionals Coping With Increasing Complexity

Strategies for Managing Complexity Within Global Supply Chains


BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - August 10, 2010) -  Between June and July 2010, Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), surveyed 196 companies documenting their processes and capabilities regarding Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP). According to the Aberdeen Group report, Sales and Operations Planning: Strategies for Managing Complexity within Global Supply Chains, 59% of respondents indicate that improving top line revenue in 2010 (versus 45% of respondents in the July 2009 Sales and Operations Planning: Integrate with Finance and Improve Revenue report) was the top pressure driving attention and resources toward S&OP initiatives.

"S&OP is the key integrated process that the supply chain organization, specifically the Chief Supply Chain Officer, can use to achieve visibility and transformation across the entire organization and throughout the supply chain," explained Nari Viswanathan, Director of the Supply Chain Practice at the Aberdeen Group.

The other key pressures that companies are facing with respect to S&OP processes include the need to reduce supply chain operating costs (53%) and the management of increasing demand volatility (49%), which creates the need for balancing these mutually exclusive business pressures. All of these pressures are competing against each other amidst an increased complexity of supply chain processes and the global nature of these supply chains.

"Given the highly outsourced and dynamic nature of today's Integrated Demand Supply Networks, those involved in the S&OP process must take a complete, end-to-end view of the supply chain and integrate that viewpoint throughout their organization. From the training programs to the actual management decisions, everything must be done with consideration to its effect on the entire supply chain," said Viswanathan.

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Infor, Kinaxis, Logility, Quintiq, and Steelwedge. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit
 http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=6630&camp=2.

Find out where your company's sales and operations planning capabilities rank among the top performing companies. Take our Sales and Operations Planning Assessment Tool: http://assessment.aberdeen.com/seyXTro9R2/index.aspx 

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About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748.

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