Fully optimized planning across the strategic, tactical and operational horizons is something many manufacturers only dream of. They’re busy spinning plates and fighting fires, often losing focus on the bigger picture as they struggle to keep things moving in the right direction.

So why do some organizations seem better equipped to achieve their goals than others? How do they maintain complete business control in the face of the endless challenges thrown up to disrupt their short, medium and long term plans?

Let’s take a whistle-stop tour through some common problems across all three planning levels and think about how the best in the business might overcome some of the biggies.

Strategic planning challenges

Challenges encountered on a strategic level include:

• Attempting to manage constantly changing supply chains
• Making the most of opportunities in emerging markets
• Deciding whether or not to outsource

That last one’s an age old dilemma, but top manufacturers have the ability to make these judgments with minimum fuss.

Imagine this: a beleaguered component manufacturer is debating whether to scrap a cutting machine in the face of rising maintenance costs. A subcontractor offers to take on the production. The manufacturer’s planners pour over spreadsheets of ‘old’ data and spend hours weighing up the pros and cons of accepting the offer. Even when they finally make a decision, they can’t be 100% sure they’ve done the right thing.

So what do the big boys do differently?

They use straightforward “what-if” software simulations to explore the alternative courses of action and within a few clicks, they’ve worked out the most appropriate, cost-efficient thing to do. Job done.

Tactical planning challenges

These often seem to relate to a company’s flexibility (or lack of it), especially when dealing with issues like:

• Invisible trends
• Production versus Sales standoffs
• Inadequate S&OP reaction speeds

When it comes to the S&OP ‘blame game’ (where Production blames Sales for promising more than the company can deliver, while Sales accuses Production of failing to manufacture enough product), nobody wins. Missed targets stay missed, and interdepartmental ‘them and us’ attitudes certainly don’t help solve the issue of how the misalignment came to be in the first place.

So what’s the answer?

If you asked market leaders, they’d tell you of the need to employ an integrated S&OP process based on realistic forecasts, the latest data and finite capacity. When all departments have instant access to data, are up to speed, in agreement and committed to delivering their side of the bargain, S&OP meetings can be brief and rewarding – with finger pointing and frustration welcome absentees.

Operational planning challenges

While they may be less complex than those experienced when making longer term decisions, operational level problems can be just as disruptive. For example:

• Accepting large orders before capacity can be guaranteed
• Coping with machines which can (and will) breakdown
• Struggling to iron out wandering bottlenecks
• Aligning the schedules of tightly linked resources
• Determining optimum production quantities
• Determining optimum inventory levels

The challenge of synchronizing the schedules of tightly linked resources is something most manufacturers battle with. With intrinsically conjoined resources such as mixing and filling lines, it’s nigh on impossible.

But there’s usually room for improvement. A good planning system can help determine the ideal balance for all processes and suggest optimized schedules. This allows schedulers to visualize the impact of variables on all relevant KPIs, fine-tune plans and make excellent decisions.

Take some of the pain out of planning

The ability to overcome strategic, tactical and operational planning challenges is vital to any business. Being able to nimbly sidestep problems is also a major competitive advantage if your rivals have a tendency to falter or panic as their best laid plans go up in smoke.

The good news is, effective planning across all three horizons is something all manufacturers can accomplish. Achieving business goals can be a whole lot simpler.

You just need the right tools.

So if you’ve yet to invest in a good supply chain planning and optimization solution it’s seriously worth considering. The initial outlay could be much less than you’d expect, and an integrated platform that supports every stage of your supply chain journey could save you big bucks and plenty of headaches in the long run.

It’s not rocket science.

Unless you’re in the business of manufacturing rockets, of course.

To find out more about overcoming strategic, tactical and operational planning challenges with integrated supply chain planning and optimization, download ‘A manufacturer’s guide to complete business control’, a management briefing from Quintiq.