Through a series of formal, tightlyscheduled
meetings the customer demand
is matched by production capabilities. The
final executive SOFP meeting is chaired by
the most senior person in the organization
— often the president or CEO — and a company
wide game-plan is developed.
Everybody in the organization can buy in to
this game plan because it has been developed cooperatively. SOFP is the planning
process in lean companies. It provides both short-term updating of such things as kanbans
and cell manning, and longer-term planning such as capital equipment, and hiring or redeploying people. The financial planning outcome