True, in order for this process to be meaningful you need to gather a lot of data pertaining to each and every SKU in your stable, but I would have presumed it to be a relatively simple task to extract this information from whatever ERP system you’re using.

I also presume that “massaging” data as you put it refers to nothing more than formatting it into a readable state? If that’s all you’re going to do to it, it seems like a terrible waste of a potential source of invaluable information that your organisation could use to its great benefit.

Essentially, the S&OP process should be the process by which you align your Operations with Sales, so that each knows what the other is up to and expecting from each other. It is the meeting place of your Production/Procurement/Inventory Management spheres with the Sales & Marketing domain. In a nutshell, it is where you measure the accuracy of the expectations Sales & Marketing had for your products vs what they actually achieved, and report on where your Supply Chain fell over and why and what’s been done to fix it.

I have worked for numerous organisations where I’ve prepared data for, and run, such meetings. I have found that the chief requirement is to work smarter rather than harder, and to manage by exception rather than trying to manage everything.

Drop me a line if I can be of assistance.