362 ERP: ERP: Making it Happen

(individual products and customer orders) can be handled more readily.
It occurs on a monthly cycle and displays information in both units and
dollars. S&OP is cross-functional, involving general management, the
sales and marketing department(s), operations, finance, and product development.
It occurs at multiple levels within the company, up to and including
the executive in charge of the business unit. S&OP links the
company’s strategic plans and business plan to its detailed processes—
the order entry, master scheduling, plant scheduling, and purchasing
tools used to run the business on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and hourto-
hour basis. Used properly, S&OP enables the company’s managers to
view the business holistically and provides them with a window into the
future.
SALES PLAN The overall level of sales expected to be achieved. Usually
stated as a monthly volume of sales for a product family (group of products,
items, options, features, etc.). It needs to be expressed in units identical
to the production plan (as well as dollars) for planning purposes. It
should represent the sales and marketing department manager’s commitment
to take all reasonable steps necessary to make the sales forecast (a
prediction) accurately represent actual customer orders received.
SCHEDULED RECEIPTS Within MRP, open production orders and open
purchase orders are considered as scheduled receipts on their due date
and will be treated as part of available inventory during the netting process
for the time period in question. Scheduled receipt dates and/or quantities
are not normally altered automatically by the computer. Further,
scheduled receipts are not exploded into requirements for components,
as MRP logic assumes that all components required for the manufacture
of the item in question have either been allocated or issued to the plant
floor.
SERVICE PARTS Parts used for the repair and/or maintenance of a product.
Also called repair parts, spares.
SHOP FLOOR CONTROL See Plant Floor Control.
SIMULATION Within ERP, utilizing operational data to perform what-if
evaluations of alternative plans, to answer the question: “Can we do it?”
If yes, the simulation can then be run in financial mode to help answer the
question: “Do we really want to?”
SUPPLIER SCHEDULER A person whose main job is working with suppliers
regarding what’s needed and when. Supplier schedulers are in direct
contact with both MRP and the suppliers. They do the material planning
for the items under their control, communicate the resultant schedules to
their assigned suppliers, do follow-up, resolve problems, and so forth.
The supplier schedulers are normally organized by commodity, as are the
buyers. By using the supplier scheduler approach, the buyers are freed