For obvious reasons, customers are much more difficult to manage than are suppliers. The linkage between the S&OP processes, in good supply chain management, is no less valuable, however. There are no secret weapons aimed at getting the right level of influence over customers. Each situation is a little different, and each organization needs to establish relationships, given the opportunity. However, to know the end result is to have the right objectives in mind as the journey begins. The S&OP process, if fully integrated with the customer s S&OP review, gives way to much improved service as well as lower costs by limiting the risks of low inventory and creating shared goals and actions. In this chapter some desirable outcomes of shared process are outlined (see Figure 11.1).

Shared Process Examples

1. Marketing plans are shared to allow preparation for anticipated increases in sales. This could be any of a million possibilities.

   
   Figure 11.1: Drivers for sharing information with your customers.

   Following are just a few:

   1. The customer is planning a coupon program in a large regional advertisement This is always information that is good for supplying organizations to have. It allows better control of inventory levels to support service requirements increasing.

   2. The customer is planning to attend and populate an advertising booth at an important show that is expected to spike demand If the show is successful, more demand will be created. Knowing this is important in the supplier planning process, for material and capacity.

   3. The customer is releasing a...