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Proposals for enhancing tactical planning in grocery retailing with S&OP

Heidi Carin Dreyer (Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway)
Kasper Kiil (Department of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway)
Iskra Dukovska-Popovska (Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark)
Riikka Kaipia (Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Aalto University School of Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland)

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

ISSN: 0960-0035

Article publication date: 8 February 2018

Issue publication date: 28 February 2018

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore tactical planning in grocery retailing and propose how process and integration mechanisms from sales and operations planning (S&OP) can enhance retail tactical planning.

Design/methodology/approach

This work follows an explorative design with case studies from the grocery retailing industry in Finland, Norway, and the UK.

Findings

The tactical planning process focuses on demand management and securing product availability from suppliers in order to reach sales targets. Less attention is directed toward balancing supply and demand or toward providing a single plan to guide company operations. Planning appeared to be functionally oriented with limited coordination between functional plans, but it did include external integration that improved forecast accuracy.

Research limitations/implications

The study involves grocery retailer cases with variable levels of S&OP maturity. The propositions need to be investigated further through action research or additional case studies to confirm their validity.

Practical implications

The study proposes a design of an S&OP process in retailing and propositions for improving tactical planning integration.

Originality/value

The study complements research on retail tactical planning by taking planning process and integration viewpoints. The research suggests that retailers would benefit from a formal and company-wide S&OP process to unify different market-oriented plans to a single set of numbers, thus better balancing supply and demand without sacrificing the emphasis on demand planning.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Norwegian Research Council (BIA and BIONÆR programs) for its financial support of the project and to the case companies who participated in this study.

Citation

Dreyer, H.C., Kiil, K., Dukovska-Popovska, I. and Kaipia, R. (2018), "Proposals for enhancing tactical planning in grocery retailing with S&OP", International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 48 No. 2, pp. 114-138. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-01-2017-0018

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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