Retailers and their suppliers are under more pressure than ever before to deliver more goods to more destinations faster.
To stay competitive, "retailers need to know where things are at all times so they can redirect shipments, rebalance inventories and respond to new demands on the fly," says Rich Becks, general manager, Industry Value Chains, E2open, which delivers cloud-based supply chain collaboration solutions.
Since their inception, ERP systems have demonstrated their value in connecting business functions by bringing together data and making it accessible within an organization. However, with the globalization of supply chains and the increased need for collaboration, the ERP systems that once promised to be the "do-all" solution are proving insufficient when it comes to aligning business functions outside of the four walls of an organization. Sales and operations planning (S&OP) is one of those functions.