@article{Seeling_Panitz_Cassel_2021, title={Sales and operations planning: learnings from 15 Brazilian companies}, volume={18}, url={https://bjopm.org.br/bjopm/article/view/1135}, DOI={10.14488/BJOPM.2021.019}, abstractNote={<p><strong>ABSTRACT</strong></p> <p><strong>Goal:</strong> The goal of this paper is to investigate 15 Brazilian companies, which execute S&OP cycles periodically, in order to  characterize the processes implemented and discuss challenges and improvement opportunities.</p> <p><strong>Methodology: </strong> Initially, a multiple-case study approach is applied embracing 15 Brazilian companies. Then, a survey is conducted in the same organizations to deepen the investigation.  Two recognized S&OP frameworks from the literature are used to structure the research.</p> <p><strong>Results: </strong>Some of the main research findings include: some companies consider “Data Gathering” a normal task and no longer a S&OP cycle step; some organizations include a new step one named “Portfolio Management”, preceding “Demand Planning” to leverage step two’s outcomes; there are improvement opportunities identified in “Pre-meeting” and “Executive Meeting” steps regarding capacity to simulate different scenarios from a financial perspective; and most of the studied companies do not adopt a S&OP software facing limitations to manage information and perform what-if analysis.</p> <p><strong>Research Limitations:</strong> Only companies located in Brazil are investigated.</p> <p><strong>Practical implications:</strong> The study provides useful information for practitioners on the characterization of the S&OP process, implementation challenges, and improvement opportunities.</p> <p><strong>Originality / Value: </strong>The paper applies different research methods (multiple-case study and survey) and two recognized frameworks from the literature in the study of the S&OP process performed by 15 companies, providing a broad characterization of the processes implemented and valuable findings about challenges and improvement opportunities. Although all the researched companies are Brazilian, evidences indicate the results are generalizable.</p>}, number={3}, journal={Brazilian Journal of Operations & Production Management}, author={Seeling, Marcelo Xavier and Panitz, Carlos Eduardo and Cassel, Ricardo Augusto}, year={2021}, month={Apr.}, pages={1–14} }