Balance a promotion against capacity, expedite and buffer policy. Consensus has a hidden cost: you can lift service while finance, procurement and operations quietly absorb the pain. Find the balance the whole business can live with.
Sales & operations planning aligns demand and supply across functions. The catch is that improving one number - usually service - shifts cost onto another function: cash to finance, utilisation to operations.
Each cycle a promotion lifts demand while you set capacity, buffer and expedite. Service, the demand-supply gap, cash pressure and utilisation are computed; the score rewards a balanced outcome, not service alone.
Prefer cheap, standing levers (modest buffer, capacity headroom) over expensive reactive ones (expedite). Aim for the plan the whole business can live with.
