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Adroit Consulting Highlights Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) Framework as part of the Integrated Customer Management Model™

S&OP Framework focuses on linking demand and supply planning to lower inventory costs, increase profitability, and improve customer satisfaction

Chicago - October 18, 2006 - "A major source of profit drain for many companies is the inability to consistently and effectively link customer demand, sales planning and operations planning," said Adroit Consulting CEO Stan Martin when describing the nature of his firm's recent consulting engagements.

According to Martin, symptoms of poor sales and operations planning include:

• Frequent stock outs or excessive expediting
• Rising inventory costs due to "risk planning" or obsolescence
• Imbalances in product mix
• Sales orders that outstrip capacity
• Under-serviced premium customers
• Inability to respond to market opportunities.

All of which lead to increased costs from suppliers, logistics partners and manufacturing operations. If not addressed systematically, these problems dampen sales successes and revenue growth.

To address the integration issues between the supply and the demand chain, Adroit Consulting relies on its Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) Solution Framework, a critical component of the firm's Integrated Customer Management Model (ICMM). The S&OP Framework deals directly with today's complexities including extended supply chains, non-standard products and shorter product life cycles. It focuses on the critical integration point between demand and supply planning.

Adroit Consulting's ICMM methodology includes a Rapid Assessment™ of current sales and operations processes focused on internal handoffs and the "viable" use of data developed by each team. It is followed by an actionable plan that addresses integrated planning & accountability, long-term planning horizons, rolling forecasts, performance measures and data & analytics.

To date, the firm has deployed the S&OP Solution Framework with several clients who have successfully increased revenue and profitability by double digits through enhanced distribution strategies, improved order-to-cash cycles and re-engineering a process for build-to-order products. In all cases, results were achieved by better linking sales execution and planning to design engineering, production planning and product delivery.

About Adroit Consulting
Adroit Consulting is an operational consulting firm that specializes in improving sales, sales channels, customer service and product management for mid-sized companies and divisions of the Fortune 500. Adroit declares success when changes are effectively executed and operational.