Joint business plan

Typically does not require any system support. Source system for Business Plan could be a Category Management solution.

The Output of the Joint Business Plans such as category role and tactics as well as the item management profile containing information such as order minimum and multiples, inventory policies, targeted customer service levels, lead times and order intervals, shipping rules etc will be part of the extended supply chain to be modeled in the SAP Advanced Planner and Optimizer for each product / location combination, further to this  modelling can be done for beginning and end of product's life cycle based on phase-in and/or phase-out schedules to consider the introduction, growth, maturity, saturation and decline.

In other words, individual item management profiles down to the SKU and store level can be modeled with the solution. This information will serve as input to the supply and distribution planning, as well as truck load building processes.

Create Value Based Sales Plan

Using SEM, Strategic Enterprise Management the value based Sales plan is derived. SEM-BPS Business Planning and Simulation tools faciliates all desired business planning functions which includes top-bottom distribution, bottom-up aggregation, allocation, trend analysis and currency translation.

The planning can be specific to customer as rolling forecast or event based planning.

Review Alerts & KPI Reports

In this process step, Demand planning and Supply Network Planning generated exception alerts and KPI reports generated using simulation versions are analysed using SAP-BW reporting to reconsider the feasibility of the demand and supply. The review is done to replan the marketing plan or to consolidate the sales plan.

Consolidate Sales Plan

After the review of the KPIs, alerts, manufacturing and supply constraints, sales plan is consilidated to derive at final sales plan. Final consolidated plan will be again collaborated with planner and customers revised plan will be used by demand & supply planner to simulate demand & supply plan. With the best feasible demand & supply plan consolidation will be done for sales plan.

Front end agreements

Typically does not require any system support. Document exchange could be supported through SAP Knowledge Management especially in public and private marketplace scenarios.

Create Promotions along with Life Cycle Planning at product level

In this step promotions are created using  SAP APO Demand Planning leveraging its toolbox of promotion planning techniques and using marketing activities using the interface (BAPIs)  between CRM and APO. While creating the promotions one time events or repeated events like Advertising, Trade fairs/discounts, product displays, coupons, contests can be incorporated at aggregated or disaggregated levels are considered. Further to that system faciliates to incorporate forecast based promotions or quantitative promotions.

Life cycles are maintained for New Product Lauch by using or without using existing product history for similar product which replaces old ones or newly developed products respectively.

Convert Sales & Marketing plans to Product Demand

In this step sales and marketing monetory value based plans are disaggregated to product level to get over all customer wise product demand. Using the compiled information of plans in CRM and BW final product level demand is derived. This demand is verified by sales and marketing teams in terms of value targets and feasibility using marketing analytical tool available in CRM.

Analyse Demand & Promotions and forecast

In this process step, demand analyst Demand derived from sales and promotions created using marketing input are used to derive the final product demand. Final unconstrained forecast is generated and analysed using simulation techniques.

Collaborate Promotions and forecast using Demand planning

In this step promotions, forecast is collaborated with Customers and other supply chain partners, APO demand planning extends the facility to collaborate on secured web. The organisations can collaborate the base line forecast , promotions interactively with collaboration parternes.

Collaborative Supply and Distribution Planning

In this step Identify and resolve the exceptions to the forecast, involving manufacture's constraints in delivering the specified volumes, creating an interactive loop for revising the orders.

Such an interactive feedback loop as described above has an impact that goes well beyond forecast accuracy. For instance, based on feedback from operations, stating that capacity or material is not sufficiently available to fulfill demand without capacity expansion through contract manufacturing, marketing may cancel a promotion considered for an item in short supply and redirect associated marketing spending to items with high inventory. Similarly, the sales force may be incentivated in terms of which products to push. The inclusion of operations in the planning process increases in importance for businesses constrained by supply, labour and / or material / components.

Make the feasible product availabilty and delivery schedules to distributor/customer on web.

Simulate Demand, Supply & Distribution Plan

In this step, Different options or scenarios are considered to arrive at best feasible demand and supply plan using simulation versions. Simulation versions faciliates the organisations to achive the continuous improvements using the refined changes in marketing or sales plan and the manufacturing and supply constrainsts.

Create Marketing Activities

In this step Markeing planner would plan and create Plans, strcutures decideand on budgets, plan interactive promotions. Team of marketing planner would decide on expected revenues, profits and costs. This information will be shared for further product planning to achive the desired goals. Using SAP CRM these activities can be carried out which is well integrated with SAP SEM (Strategic Enterprise Management), SAP APO (Advance Planner & Optimizer) and BW ie Business Information Warehouse.

Review Promotions and Collaborate with Customers

In this steps marketing reviews the promotions created in APO for different customers and products and the impact of the promotions is analysed for the increment or decrement in value benefit.

The promotions are collaborated on secured web using APO interface ,benefits and impacts of promotions are shared with key supply chain partners.

Review Alerts & KPI Reports

In this process step, Demand planning and Supply Network Planning generated exception alerts and KPI reports generated using simulation versions are analysed using SAP-BW reporting to reconsider the feasibility of the demand and supply. The review is done to replan the marketing plan or to consolidate the sales plan.

Replan Marketing Activities

In this steps, replanning of marketing activties after analysis of the KPI reports and manufacturing and supply constratins, alerts shared by demand and supply planner. New product or promotion lauching descisions are finalised during this refinement or replanning activity.

Sales & Operations Planning