Based on a survey of 160 supply chain leaders in a recent webinar conducted by Steelwedge, we found that companies have captured a whopping 70% more data (product, supply, demand and nance) to manage their organizations this year. Yet, 77% of these businesses are not actually leveraging this data in their S&OP processes, thereby leaving “blind spots” in their decision making processes around critical supply/demand tradeoffs. The term "Big Data" is not just an IT buzzword that supply chain folks can choose to ignore. It is becoming more and more of a reality—and valuable leveraging point-- in their own organizations. For more information about S&OP, please visit: http://www.steelwedge.com/solutions/sales-and-operations-planning-sales/

1. ROLE OF BIG DATA IN S&OP DATA SHEET
Page 1 of 2 | © 2012 Steelwedge Software, Inc. All rights reserved. – info@steelwedge.com – 925.460.1700
Based on a survey of 160 supply chain leaders in a recent webinar conducted by
Steelwedge, we found that companies have captured a whopping 70% more data
(product, supply, demand and finance) to manage their organizations this year.
Yet, 77% of these businesses are not actually leveraging this data in their S&OP
processes, thereby leaving “blind spots” in their decision making processes
around critical supply/demand tradeoffs.
The term "Big Data" is not just an IT buzzword that supply chain folks can choose
to ignore. It is becoming more and more of a reality—and valuable leveraging
point-- in their own organizations.
What do we mean by Big Data? There are three attributes to Big Data: Volume,
Velocity and Variability. An example of volume in Retail is the number of SKU-Ship
To combinations -- which can run into millions then translate to billions of
planning relations (SKU-ShipTo-Customer). An example of variability is the
demand pattern shifts that happen across a set of low-volume but high-value
products which becomes difficult to forecast. This is common in industrial
equipment and high-technology industries. An example of velocity is the
rapid addition of new products in organizations and the need to plan
for those products from a demand as well as supply perspective.
These three factors combined have become critical for
organizations to manage as part of their S&OP process.
When companies have a basic S&OP process, it is easier for them
to create the plans at a monthly level and at an aggregate level of
granularity such as product families or categories (Level 1
“reacting” on the Gartner Maturity model). However, when
companies mature to higher levels such as Level 2 “balancing” or 3
“collaborating” or 4 “orchestrating”, then it is critical for them to be
able to plan at a monthly level and also re-plan at ad-hoc frequencies to
plan at a much more granular level (SKU, ship-to or customer level). Without
the nuances of big data volume, velocity and variability, they can’t reliably power
ad-hoc decision making required by today’s volatile business environments.
Big Data is becoming a Big Deal for Agile S&OP
The Best S&OP is Powered by Big Data
• Single unified data model
for supply, demand and
finance
• Ability to do global scenario
management across the
supply, demand and finance
• Extremely rich collaborative
capabilities supported by
Enterprise Enabled Excel
Demand
Supply
Finance
Real-Time Processing
for Huge Datasets
S&OP
S&OP
Variety
&
?
!
+
Velocity
Volume

2. Page 2 of 2 | © 2012 Steelwedge Software, Inc. All rights reserved. – info@steelwedge.com – 925.460.1700
Steelwedge Software, Inc.
Steelwedge integrated sales, operations and finance planning solutions provide the "shock absorbers" to recognize, recalibrate and respond in a volatile environment. Business agility
starts with Steelwedge for a clear line of sight from plan to performance to profit. For additional information, please email us: info@steelwedge.com.
To meet the potential, requirements for Big Data-enabled S&OP processes
include the ability to:
do volumetric and financial planning in the same environment,
do global, corporate-wide S&OP planning and reporting
plan across operational and strategic time horizons in single environment
create global supply-demand scenarios
ensure real-time integration to back end systems.
Summary of Steelwedge Big Data Benefits
Balance Tradeoffs
Global VisibilityHigh Resolution
Collaboration
Finance
Sourcing
Plant
ASP
Margin
ProductCustomer
Supply
Demand
Velocity
20x to100x bigger
calculations
Finance
Sourcing
Plant
ASP
Margin
ProductCustomer
Supply
Demand
Velocity
20x to100x bigger
calculations
Big Data powered
Global Supply, Demand
and Finance Scenarios
ROLE OF BIG DATA IN S&OP DATA SHEET
The key benefits that companies get as a result of the Big Data enabled S&OP
process are:
Best yet is the business value of Big Data in S&OP. Big Data-enabled S&OP
allows companies to do high resolution planning and analytics. With inherently
greater accuracy and visibility, the following metrics will also get a big boost from
Big Data: forecast accuracy, order to deliver lead-times, inventory levels and
cash-to-cash cycle times.
In 2013, expect to see Big Data becoming more of an issue in supply chain
management. Expect to see a convergence of planning and analytics applications
which must support Big Data. Also, supply chain professionals need to become
more technology savvy on Big Data related issues to be more responsive to the
business requirements such as analyzing Point of Sale data, rapidly simulating the
addition of new products and the impact on the overall S&OP plan.
a single unified data model for supply, demand and finance
the ability to do global scenario management across the
supply, demand and finance
extremely rich collaborative capabilities.
For more information on how you
can leverage your big data in
Sales and Operations Planning,
contact us at info@steelwedge.com