“We’ve been doing S&OP in our African Operating Companies for 5 or 6 years .... & it’s still not working properly....”
This was one of several discussions we have had with clients over the last couple of weeks and something of a recurring theme.
Although many of the countries in Africa present unique challenges, the principles of S&OP are the same as anywhere else.
A good place to start is looking at organisation capability and the outcomes that S&OP should deliver.
So here are 10 (plus 1) questions to consider:
- Customer service. Are your customers enjoying consistent & excellent service levels?
- Planning Processes. Do your supply chain planning processes deliver optimum levels of service & cost?
- Inventory. Do you have full visibility of stock & are inventory levels at or below best practice industry standards?
- Logistics & Route to Market. Is your distributive supply chain a source of competitive advantage?
- Measures & Performance. Do your KPIs quickly identify performance opportunities & guide corrective intervention?
- Decision Making. Is decision making proactive & at the correct level in the organisation?
- Competency. Are your people fully able to manage the demands of your supply chain?
- Data. Do you operate your supply chain with one set of numbers?
- Systems. Are your IT systems fully optimised to support your supply chain?
- Cost. Are your total supply chain costs at or below best practice industry standards?
And in a world with limited resources:
11. Low Carbon. Does your supply chain have the lowest possible carbon impact?
If you have answered “yes” to all of the above, you have fully functional S&OP process that supports an optimised supply chain.
If you have answered “no”, there will be clues to begin the process of improvement.
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Are you about to be posted to Africa? Are you expanding your operation to African countries?
Other articles in this topic:
- O Ghana
- Doing Business in Africa - S&OP is part of the answer
- England vs USA, & Doing Business in Africa
