S&OP Lessons Learned from Newell Rubbermaid
S&OP lies at the heart of your business. The moment you touch it, the ripples start spreading everywhere — demand planning, business forecasting, capacity management, supply planning, budgeting, business reviews, organizational structures, you name it.
Recognizing this, Newell Rubbermaid’s S&OP process has been the subject of an intensive improvement effort over the past two years. Initially driven by underperformance on key metrics, an S&OP initiative launched in 2008, generated 30 percent more cash for a total of $603 million in 2009.
Adding on to the "Optimizing S&OP" cover story featured in CGT's March issue, company executives Steve Sigrist and Tracey Grimshaw share some lessons learned to fellow consumer goods professionals who are looking to gain organizational efficiencies through an improved S&OP program.
“Based on our experience at Newell Rubbermaid, my advice is to spend at least as much time managing the change as you do sweating the technical details,” says Sigrist. “Take time to get buy-in and build the community up front, and it will pay dividends later on.”
Grimshaw adds another tip: Make sure S&OP truly is multi-functional.
“A lot of companies choose to approach it from the supply chain perspective only. That’s fine from a project management perspective, but sales, marketing, finance, IT, HR, and just about every other functional area should have a representative at the table as an equal partner,” she says.
“This all-inclusive approach transcends to our trade customers and helps them recognize the significance of the process,” adds Sigrist. “When they realize that our entire organization is focused on achieving the mutual gains that S&OP offers they become more enthusiastic about their role and the key information they share. “
Click here to read more about Newell Rubbermaid’s S&OP improvement project, featured exclusively in CGT’s March issue.
Recognizing this, Newell Rubbermaid’s S&OP process has been the subject of an intensive improvement effort over the past two years. Initially driven by underperformance on key metrics, an S&OP initiative launched in 2008, generated 30 percent more cash for a total of $603 million in 2009.
Adding on to the "Optimizing S&OP" cover story featured in CGT's March issue, company executives Steve Sigrist and Tracey Grimshaw share some lessons learned to fellow consumer goods professionals who are looking to gain organizational efficiencies through an improved S&OP program.
“Based on our experience at Newell Rubbermaid, my advice is to spend at least as much time managing the change as you do sweating the technical details,” says Sigrist. “Take time to get buy-in and build the community up front, and it will pay dividends later on.”
Grimshaw adds another tip: Make sure S&OP truly is multi-functional.
“A lot of companies choose to approach it from the supply chain perspective only. That’s fine from a project management perspective, but sales, marketing, finance, IT, HR, and just about every other functional area should have a representative at the table as an equal partner,” she says.
“This all-inclusive approach transcends to our trade customers and helps them recognize the significance of the process,” adds Sigrist. “When they realize that our entire organization is focused on achieving the mutual gains that S&OP offers they become more enthusiastic about their role and the key information they share. “
Click here to read more about Newell Rubbermaid’s S&OP improvement project, featured exclusively in CGT’s March issue.