BY YUMIKO KATO, SONY ELECTRONICS
Sony Electronics’
To improve forecast accuracy and collaboration
with retail partners, Sony Electronics integrated its
S&OP and CPFR programs. The results exceeded
both Sony’s and the retailers’ expectations.
The past decade has been a time of upheaval in the consumer electronics market. New technologies, new competitors, the recent
global financial crisis, and the bankruptcy of the major U.S. retailer
Circuit City are just some of the developments that continue to reshape the
market. To survive and succeed in this
new environment, manufacturers
need to focus on supply chain excellence and more effective collaboration
with key retailer partners.
That’s the strategy Sony Electronics
(SEL), the U.S. sales and distribution
subsidiary of Japan’s Sony
Corporation, adopted in 2009. As part
of its response to changing market
conditions, the electronics group has
strengthened its planning and forecasting by implementing a sales and
operations planning (S&OP) process.
S&OP involves sharing a “one number” plan among sales, finance, and
supply chain organizations; holding
regular meetings to align operations
and strategy; and tracking agreed-upon key performance indicators.
(For a more detailed definition, see
the sidebar, “What is sales and operations planning (S&OP)?”)
Implementing these principles,
however, can be surprisingly difficult
in the real world. It requires making
cultural and organizational changes
that cannot be accomplished
overnight. Instead, successfully implementing S&OP is a “transformation”
or “journey” that may easily span
months or even years.
For Sony Electronics, the journey
involved grafting S&OP principles
onto its existing collaborative plan-
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