New product introduction and supplier integration in sales and operations planning : Evidence from the Asia Pacific region

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation and performance benefits of sales and operations planning (S & OP) within organizations in Asia Pacific. Design/methodology/approach – A case study method was used, with two companies selected. The first company had recently commenced S & OP and applied it to facilitate new product introduction, while the second had integrated its supplier into an existing S & OP program. Supply chain performance data were collected and analyzed in the context of an S & OP maturity framework. Findings – Both cases show significant improvements in supply chain performance. In one case, the implementation of a common form of S & OP resulted in a 67 percent reduction in order lead time for newly introduced products. The second case demonstrated a 30 percent reduction in inventory levels and a 52 percent improvement in forecast accuracy through more advanced S & OP processes. Research limitations/implications – This paper studies just two companies and is not intended to be representative of outcomes at all companies implementing S & OP. Further studies are required for a more generalized picture of S & OP implementations in the Asia Pacific region to emerge. Practical implications – The findings illustrate the potential quantitative benefits of adopting S & OP and the circumstances under which these benefits may be achieved. The results are also supportive of the notion of a maturity model for S & OP implementations. Originality/value – This paper strengthens the link between practitioner and academic literature by providing empirical evidence of the benefits of S & OP. Furthermore, the findings are derived from the Asia Pacific region for which there have been few academic studies on S & OP to date.