Competitive Improvement through Integrated Management of Sales and Operations

Unai Apaolaza, Aitor Orue, Aitor Lizarralde and Aitor Oyarbide-Zubillaga
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Unai Apaolaza: Mechanics and Manufacturing Department, Mondragon Unibertsitatea, 20500 Mondragon, Spain
Aitor Orue: Mechanics and Manufacturing Department, Mondragon Unibertsitatea, 20500 Mondragon, Spain
Aitor Lizarralde: Mechanics and Manufacturing Department, Mondragon Unibertsitatea, 20500 Mondragon, Spain
Aitor Oyarbide-Zubillaga: Department of Mechanics, Design and Organization, University of Deusto, 48007 Bilbao, Spain

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-18

Abstract: Several authors agree on the importance of integrating sales and operations (S & OP) when it comes to improving the management of organisations. Thus, the relationship between S & OP can be critical from a competitive point of view, and therefore strategic. However, most of the literature on this topic focuses on the field of repetitive manufacturing. Consequently, this work aims to enhance the scarce literature related to S & OP in organisations that produce make-to-order (MTO). The present study is an analysis of cases of two industrial companies managed according to the theory of constraints. In both cases, the relationship between sales and operations was initially poor. Their approaches were mainly founded on their experience and intuition, as well as on simple data. The development of a new approach, integrating S & OP, has demonstrated the potential advantages of integrated management. As a result, we have identified some aspects of interest from a managerial perspective. Furthermore, we consider the findings of this study to be relevant to improving the competitiveness of this kind of organisation.

Keywords: project management; sales and operations; drum-buffer-rope (DBR); theory of constraints (TOC); demand-driven adaptive enterprise (DDAE); demand-driven MRP (DDMRP) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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