Andrew Downard

As supply chain planning becomes more mature, business leaders from outside the supply chain are increasingly taking ownership of the S&OP process. Supply chain leaders need to prepare for this transition by partnering with finance to monetize S&OP discussions.

Supply chain leaders struggle to communicate progress being made through the S&OP process. A month-by-month picture of planned improvements for key business metrics helps supply chain leaders track movement toward goals and helps cross-functional stakeholders understand the advancements being made.

Turnover in supply chain planning roles is significant and accelerating. Supply chain leaders must understand where to find fresh talent for their planning teams, and how to engage new planners once they are hired.

Understanding the current state is a vital first step for supply chain leaders when preparing for a sales and operations planning transformation.

Turnover in the planning function is significant and accelerating. The drivers of engagement for planners are different than for the rest of supply chain, and supply chain leaders must use that knowledge to respond.

S&OP transformations always require organizational change, but the plans developed often ignore good change management practices. Supply chain leaders of S&OP change should use this Toolkit to ensure that transformation plans incorporate proven change management methodology.

S&OP transformations always require organizational change, but the plans developed often ignore good change management practices. Supply chain leaders of S&OP change must ensure that transformation plans incorporate proven change management methodology.

Newell Rubbermaid's Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process has been the subject of an intensive improvement effort over the past two years. An initiative launched in 2008 generated 30 percent more cash for a total of $603 million in 2009 despite one of the most challenging business environments in a generation. As an enterprise-wide initiative, Newell Rubbermaid executives Andrew Downard, director of Supply Chain; Bill Hess, vice president of Supply Chain; Steve Sigrist, vice president… Show more

Newell Rubbermaid's Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process has been the subject of an intensive improvement effort over the past two years. An initiative launched in 2008 generated 30 percent more cash for a total of $603 million in 2009 despite one of the most challenging business environments in a generation. As an enterprise-wide initiative, Newell Rubbermaid executives Andrew Downard, director of Supply Chain; Bill Hess, vice president of Supply Chain; Steve Sigrist, vice president, Customer-Facing Supply Chain; and Tracey Grimshaw, vice president, Global Organizational Development, all took part in the development and implementation. Here, they team together again to tell us about the S&OP project that fostered tremendous change and improvement across the entire organization. Show less

Three years ago, Newell Rubbermaid was a diverse collection of businesses with no consistent S&OP process. Since that time, a global S&OP initiative has been successful in forging agreement on a common process and implementing that process across the organization. While this has already led to significant financial and operational gains, there is substantial additional potential to be realized by leveraging S&OP further. This presentation explains how process compliance was achieved at Newell… Show more

Three years ago, Newell Rubbermaid was a diverse collection of businesses with no consistent S&OP process. Since that time, a global S&OP initiative has been successful in forging agreement on a common process and implementing that process across the organization. While this has already led to significant financial and operational gains, there is substantial additional potential to be realized by leveraging S&OP further. This presentation explains how process compliance was achieved at Newell Rubbermaid, then focuses on the question of what comes next after the basic S&OP framework is in place. Highlights include how to execute a shift from process compliance to effectiveness, an exploration of new forecasting strategies involving customer collaboration and the use of customer data, and some advanced techniques for understanding forecasting effectiveness. Show less

In 2008, Newell Rubbermaid, a global marketer of consumer and commercial products, decided to combat high levels of working capital, low levels of forecast accuracy, and a growing disconnection between sales and inventory by implementing sales and operations planning (S&OP). Within three years, the organization has seen dramatic improvements in all of its target areas, but success did not come easily. This case study describes the steps Newell Rubbermaid took to understand its… Show more

In 2008, Newell Rubbermaid, a global marketer of consumer and commercial products, decided to combat high levels of working capital, low levels of forecast accuracy, and a growing disconnection between sales and inventory by implementing sales and operations planning (S&OP). Within three years, the organization has seen dramatic improvements in all of its target areas, but success did not come easily. This case study describes the steps Newell Rubbermaid took to understand its organizational structure, design effective processes, and execute improvement plans that led to tangible, bottom-line results. Lessons the organization has learned and the models it used to achieve its goals are also explained. Show less