gabrielmoreira S&OP Meeting Prep Skill
An S&OP meeting that reviews numbers but decides nothing just delayed the miss by a month. This skill prepares the readout so the meeting spends its time on the three decisions only that room can make — not on re-litigating the forecast. Everything else goes in the pre-read, gaps are quantified in units and money, and every open gap arrives with priced scenario levers.
What This Skill Produces
- A demand vs. supply gap table by product family and month
- Scenario levers for each material gap (expedite / build-ahead / allocate / demand-shape) with cost and consequence
- A projected inventory position (units, value, days/weeks of supply) under the recommended plan
- The three decisions the meeting must make, each framed with options and a recommendation
- A pre-read package with what to absorb before the meeting vs. what will be decided in it
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
- Planning horizon & buckets — typically months 1–18, decisions concentrated in months 1–3
- Demand plan — consensus forecast by family, plus notable changes since last cycle
- Supply plan — capacity, committed material, known constraints (lines, labor, supplier allocations)
- Inventory position — current on-hand, in-transit, and targets by family
- Carry-overs — decisions or actions from last cycle and their status
- Financial context — revenue plan the volumes must support; standard margins if trade-off math is needed
From a thin brief, build the structure with the numbers marked [to confirm] — a skeleton the planner fills beats a refusal.
Gap & Decision Framework
Gap table discipline — for each family × month: demand, supply, gap (units and %), and gap valued at revenue at risk. Classify each gap:
| Gap size | Class | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Within ±5% | Noise | Note it; no meeting time |
| 5–15% | Manageable | Lever proposed in pre-read; meeting ratifies |
| >15% or any strategic account short | Escalation | A named decision on the agenda |
Scenario levers — price every option, never present a bare gap:
- Expedite — premium freight / overtime: cost per unit recovered, margin erosion
- Build-ahead — pull production into soft months: inventory carrying cost, obsolescence exposure if demand slips
- Allocate — who gets shorted, by name: revenue and relationship consequence per customer tier
- Demand-shape — delay a promotion/launch: revenue timing shift, commercial owner's agreement required
The three-decisions rule — the agenda names at most three decisions, each stated as a question with options A/B, the cost of each, and a recommendation. If there are more than three, the smaller ones move to the pre-read as "ratify unless objection." A decision without a recommendation is analysis, not an agenda item.
Pre-read discipline — issued 48 hours ahead; contains all data, gap analysis, and lever costing; the meeting assumes it was read. First slide of the meeting is the decision list, not the demand review.
Output Format
S&OP Readout: [cycle / month]
1. Cycle summary — plan vs. last cycle in three sentences; biggest change since last month.
2. Carry-over actions — last cycle's decisions: done / at risk / missed, with owner.
3. Demand vs. supply gap table — Family | Month | Demand | Supply | Gap (units / % / $) | Class | Proposed lever.
4. Scenario levers — per escalation-class gap: options with cost, consequence, and decision deadline ("expedite window closes [date]").
5. Inventory projection — by family: closing inventory under the recommended plan vs. target, flagged where projection exceeds target by >20% or falls below safety stock.
6. Decisions required (max 3) — Decision | Options & cost | Recommendation | Owner if approved.
7. Pre-read appendix — assumptions, forecast changes, ratify-unless-objection items.
Quality Checks
- Every gap >5% has a proposed lever with a cost — no naked gaps
- Gaps expressed in units and dollars, so finance and operations read the same page
- Exactly 1–3 decisions on the agenda, each with options, costs, and a recommendation
- Allocation scenarios name which customers/tiers get shorted — no abstract "reduce supply"
- Carry-over actions from last cycle reviewed before new ones are added
- Inventory projection reflects the recommended levers, not the unresolved plan
- Decision deadlines stated where levers expire (expedite windows, build-ahead cutoffs)
Anti-Patterns
- Do not spend meeting time re-forecasting — forecast disputes go back to the demand review step
- Do not present a gap without at least one priced lever — that's reporting a problem, not planning
- Do not bury the decisions at slide 30 — they open the meeting
- Do not show inventory only in units — value and days-of-supply are what the CFO and planner each need
- Do not let "allocate" stay abstract — someone specific gets shorted, and the meeting must own that choice
- Do not issue the pre-read at midnight before the meeting — 48 hours or the meeting becomes the read-through