Streamlining Sales and Operational Planning through Knowledge Management

Sammanfattning: In today’s competitive market it is more important than ever to have effective and efficient Supply Chain Planning. Despite its wide adoption and many years of development, Sales and Operational Planning, one of the most commonly applied tactical Supply Chain Planning processes, is not generating the desired results as companies are still experiencing difficulties in synchronizing demand and supply. Furthermore, a company’s competitiveness depends on its knowledge management and how that knowledge is disseminated across functions. Therefore, a case study was conducted with the purpose to investigate how knowledge management is used in the Sales and Operational Planning process to streamline its operations. The study presents a conceptual framework built on prior research on how to use knowledge management in the Sales and Operational Planning process. The framework highlights the importance of alignment of targets and information as well as continuous documentation and learning to improve the streamlining of the process. Additionally, the study illustrates linkages between the stages of creating, spreading, and applying knowledge by applying the framework to the case company. The study identified a gap in research where the combination of Sales and Operational Planning and Knowledge Management had not fully been explored. This gap was addressed by the creation of the conceptual framework. The practical contribution identified both systematic, functional, and individual areas of Knowledge Management that can work to streamline the process.