Soft modeling of system dynamics for the S&OP process: a conceptual model for organization of the type make to order

The Sales and operations Planning (S&OP) relate the organizational strategic objectives to the production objectives and also allows the integration of the other organizational areas, thus coordinating the various planning processes present in a productive activity, such as the finance planning, of the operations themselves, marketing strategies and also human resources. This research aims to analyze the process of S&OP from the perspective of an organization that make to order and propose a conceptual model of the process that enables greater understanding of such business dynamics. The present research is classified as descriptive and applied, because sought the identification of relations between several variables with a focus on generating knowledge and solutions for the application of S&OP by using of system dynamics techniques. To apply the model in a company, it is necessary to make small adjustments referring to the private ones. The balance between supply and demand occurs when the organization promotes functional integration among its sectors, fostering the exchange of information among the participants in the process. The main contribution of this paper is that, in the possession of the proposed model, the decision maker has a qualitative notion about the S&OP and how is the interaction between business plans is given.