Trouble in Your Tank: Can You Drill the Perfect Hole?
It’s Only Common Sense: Your Guide to Better Time Management
Dan's Biz Bookshelf: 'Move Your Bus'
8 Measures for Sales and Operations Planning in Turbulent Times, Part 6
August 10, 2020 | Fane Friberg, CEPHASEstimated reading time: 1 minute
In this series, CEPHAS principal Fane Friberg highlights the interdependent elements of an effective S&OP process for leaders of supply chain management. While some companies tend to fall back on the status quo, Friberg highlights why it’s critical to actually increase the frequency of the S&OP rather than decrease the operations. He has reviewed the importance of staying committed, strategic imperatives, participation, technology, and rough-cut capacity planning. Today, he discusses suppliers.
Focus #6: Suppliers
As you work the S&OP process, a very key element is understanding if/how your suppliers will support your new plan. It is known that decentralized planning results in loss of efficiency and increased cost and lead-times. Work in full transparencies with your suppliers on a quantitative approach to determine short-term and long-term optimization.
Have the turbulent times caused by the pandemic caused your new plan to include some level of new product introduction (NPI)? Does your new normal require the supplier to pull in or push out their commodity to your organization? Do you have a systematic closed-loop process in place with your suppliers to run analytics as to how your new demand profile will be executed by the supplier? Does your plan create lumpy demand, and how might that affect the minimum/economic-order quantities?
Ensure that, in the new normal, the lead-times of your suppliers are loaded into your ERP system, and hold those suppliers accountable to those dates. If you have a supplier scorecard, continue to robustly use that tool; if you do not, make one. Also, if there are known restrictions identified from your supply partners, regardless of where that limitation is within the indented bill of materials, your overall plan must reflect this as part of the S&OP alliance.
Fane Friberg is principal of CEPHAS.
Share on:
Suggested Items
SMT007 Magazine July—What’s Your Competitive Sweet Spot?
07/01/2025 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamAre you in a niche that’s growing or shrinking? Is it time to reassess and refocus? We spotlight companies thriving by redefining or reinforcing their niche—what are their insights? In the July 2025 issue of SMT007 Magazine, we spotlight companies thriving by redefining or reinforcing their niche and offer insights to help you evaluate your own.
Smarter Machines Use AOI to Transform PCB Inspections
06/30/2025 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineAs automated optical inspection (AOI) evolves from traditional end-of-process inspections to proactive, in-line solutions, the integration of AI and machine learning is revolutionizing defect reduction and enhancing yields, marking a pivotal shift in how quality is managed in manufacturing.
Magnalytix and Foresite to Host Technical Webinar on SIR Testing and Functional Reliability
06/26/2025 | MAGNALYTIXMagnalytix, in collaboration with Foresite Inc., is pleased to announce an upcoming one-hour Webinar Workshop titled “Comparing SIR IPC B-52 to Umpire 41 Functional & SIR Test Method.” This session will be held on July 24, 2025, and is open to professionals in electronics manufacturing, reliability engineering, and process development seeking insights into new testing standards for climatic reliability.
The Death of the Microsection
06/26/2025 | Bob Neves, Reliability Assessment Solutions, Inc.I got my start out of college grinding and polishing PCB microsections. My thumbs are a bit arthritic today because of the experience (microsection grinders know what I mean). Back then, via structures were rather large, and getting to the center in six steps of grinding and polishing was easy compared to what my team has been doing recently at the lab.
Specially Developed for Laser Plastic Welding from LPKF
06/25/2025 | LPKFLPKF introduces TherMoPro, a thermographic analysis system specifically developed for laser plastic welding that transforms thermal data into concrete actionable insights. Through automated capture, evaluation, and interpretation of surface temperature patterns immediately after welding, the system provides unprecedented process transparency that correlates with product joining quality and long-term product stability.