AbstractsEconomics

Increased competition and globalisation has created new opportunities and challenges for supply chain planning. Implementation of sales and operations planning (S&OP) has thus become vital for companies in order to keep up with competition. One way of facilitating the implementation and assessing the current state of an S&OP process is by the use of maturity models. The purpose of this study is to; (1) evaluate S&OP maturity models through comparative  nalysis and application on a company in the process industry, (2) develop a maturity model  uitable for the process industry, (3) suggest a method for using it, and (4) add to the limited number of case studies describing the S&OP process of companies in different industries. The study has been conducted using a qualitative case study methodology. Qualitative data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with 19 employees from different levels and functions of the organisation in order to develop a complete picture of the S&OP process at the case company. The evaluation of current S&OP maturity models in a case study context has generated a maturity model suitable for the process industry and a qualitative method for maturity assessment. The assessment has also resulted in an in-depth analysis and description of the S&OP process of a company in the pulp and paper industry.