How to Run the Monthly S&OP Cycle in Oracle NetSuite
Sales and operations planning (S&OP) is the monthly cycle where demand, supply, finance and leadership agree one plan. Planners combine the statistical forecast, customer forecasts and open backlog, test that demand against capacity and inventory by product family, show where the plan cannot be met, and bring costed options to the executives for a decision.
This guide follows a recorded November 2026 cycle for a plant in Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing: calculating item demand plans, building the baseline in Excel, running the supply plan, reading capacity in Power BI and action messages in the Supply Planning Workbench, preparing the review pack, getting approval, locking and releasing the plan, and re-planning when a supplier slips.
- Who does itDemand Planner, Materials Manager and Production Planner; executives (here the COO) approve the plan
- How oftenMonthly, per planning cycle and site
- Steps13 steps · 4 systems
- By hand6–24 hours per week of planning effort
Watch the full workflow
every click in this recording is an AI agent — no one is touching the keyboard.
In the recording, an AI agent runs Calculate Item Demand Plans in NetSuite for Columbus Plant, then builds an unconstrained November 2026 baseline in Excel: 3,375 units, 4.0% over the 3,245-unit statistical forecast, driven by customer forecast changes. It imports the baseline as item demand plans, refreshes the planning repository and runs the Acme FG Supply Plan. Power BI shows CNC Machining at 118% of available hours, with 350 Pumps and 480 Valves units late. The agent reviews the action messages and pegging in the Supply Planning Workbench, builds a review pack with three costed options and emails it to the executive team. The COO approves it in the LaunchAI portal. The agent then exports the approved plan, releases 14 work orders and 9 purchase orders, and later re-plans when a supplier pushes PO4471 back four weeks.
- 1:20Calculate the statistical demand plans
- 1:56Build the unconstrained demand baseline
- 2:20Import the baseline as item demand plans
- 2:52Refresh the planning repository and run the supply plan
- 3:30Compare demand against capacity
- 4:12Review action messages and pegging
- 5:00Prepare the review pack
- 5:25Send the pack to the executives
- 5:56Get executive S&OP approval
- 6:25Lock the agreed plan
- 6:40Release work orders and purchase orders
- 7:24Watch for mid-cycle deviations
- 8:20Re-plan and tell the people affected
Systems involved
You need access to each of these before you start. In the recording the agent works in all of them from one desktop, signed in as the user.
- Oracle NetSuite ManufacturingCalculate Item Demand Plans, Import Assistant, Item Demand Plans, Refresh Planning Repository, Supply Plan Definitions, Supply Planning Workbench, Mass Create Work Orders, Order Items and purchase orders
- ExcelSOP Demand Baseline 2026-11.xlsx, SOP Review Pack 2026-11.xlsx and the deviation summary workbook
- Power BIAcme Supply Chain > S&OP Planning report: Capacity and inventory, and Plan vs. actual pages
- OutlookReview pack email to the executive team
What you start with
- Statistical forecast from Calculate Item Demand Plans
- Open sales order backlog (1,257 units on the books)
- Customer forecasts received by EDI and from customer portals
- Work center available hours and the supply plan's planned load
- Last month's locked plan and October actuals
What you end with
- 8 approved item demand plans totalling 3,375 units for November 2026
- SOP Review Pack 2026-11.xlsx with KPIs, the capacity constraint and three costed options
- Executive approval of option A (Saturday overtime in CNC Machining)
- Locked plan export ItemDemandPlans_2026-11_approved.csv
- 14 released work orders (WO2305–WO2318) and 9 released purchase orders
- Re-planned supply and new ship dates after the PO4471 delay
The workflow at a glance
Action Decision Human review Select a step to jump to how it's done.
- 01 Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing Calculate the statistical demand plans
- 02 Action · Excel Build the unconstrained demand baseline
- 03 Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing Import the baseline as item demand plans
- 04 Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing Refresh the planning repository and run the supply plan
- 05 Decision · Power BI Compare demand against capacity Yes A work center is over 100%: find the orders that cannot be met and cost the options. No The plan is feasible: go straight to the review pack.
- 06 Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing Review action messages and pegging
- 07 Action · Power BI and Excel Prepare the review pack
- 08 Action · Outlook Send the pack to the executives
- 09 · Human review · LaunchAI Portal Get executive S&OP approval
- 10 Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing Lock the agreed plan
- 11 Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing Release work orders and purchase orders
- 12 Decision · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing Watch for mid-cycle deviations Yes A deviation affects the plan: re-plan the affected orders. No Nothing has changed: keep the locked plan.
- 13 Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing and Excel Re-plan and tell the people affected
Step-by-step: how to do it
-
Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing · 1:20 in the video
Calculate the statistical demand plans
Go to Transactions > Demand Planning > Calculate Item Demand Plans. Set subsidiary, location, projection method, start date, duration, interval and history window, then Mark All for the items in scope and Submit. This gives you the statistical forecast for each item.
In the video- Company
- Acme Industries Inc., Columbus Plant
- Method
- Linear Regression
- Start
- 11/01/2026
- Horizon
- 12 months, monthly
- History
- 36 months
- Items
- 8 items from HP-200 to PU-10
-
Action · Excel · 1:56 in the video
Build the unconstrained demand baseline
Pull the statistical forecast, open backlog and customer forecasts from saved searches into one sheet by item and family. Add each customer adjustment with its source, and make sure no item's baseline is lower than the orders already booked. Total the baseline and the change against the statistical forecast.
In the videoSOP Demand Baseline 2026-11.xlsx
- Statistical
- 3,245
- Backlog
- 1,257
- Adjustments
- +130
- Baseline
- 3,375 (+4.0%)
- HP-350
- Adjustment
- +90
Midwest Agri-Equipment EDI forecast
- DV-100
- Adjustment
- +60
Prairie Hydraulics portal forecast
- CY-450
- Adjustment
- -20
customer forecast lowered
-
Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing · 2:20 in the video
Import the baseline as item demand plans
Save the baseline as CSV and use Setup > Import Assistant with import type Transactions, record type Item Demand Plan and data handling Update. Open an item demand plan afterwards to confirm the month's quantity and source note.
In the video- Item
- HP-350 Piston Pump 35 GPM
- November 2026 qty
- 400 (calculated 310)
- Source
- CSV import: Midwest Agri-Equipment EDI forecast
-
Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing · 2:52 in the video
Refresh the planning repository and run the supply plan
Go to Transactions > Supply Planning > Refresh Planning Repository and run a complete refresh so item, BOM and open transaction data is current. Then open Supply Plan Definitions and Launch the finished-goods plan.
In the video- Planning items
- 8
- Components
- 61
- Work centers
- 4
- Open transactions
- 143
- Plan
- Acme FG Supply Plan for Columbus Plant
- Horizon
- 26 weeks, finished goods and components
-
Decision · Power BI · 3:30 in the video
Compare demand against capacity
Refresh the S&OP report and open Capacity and inventory. Compare planned load with available hours by work center, check projected days of supply against safety stock, and look at late quantities by product family.
- If yes A work center is over 100%: find the orders that cannot be met and cost the options.
- If no The plan is feasible: go straight to the review pack.
In the video- October plan No work center over 100%
- Units
- 3,190
- November plan Over capacity
- Units
- 3,375
- Hours
- 4,374 planned of 4,480 available
- CNC Machining
- 118% (230 hours short)
- Late
- Pumps 350 and Valves 480 units
-
Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing · 4:12 in the video
Review action messages and pegging
Open the plan's Supply Planning Workbench, Action Messages tab. Read each message with its reason and priority, then open the pegging to trace a late order back to its operation, components and the sales orders it supplies.
In the videoCNC Machining 1,510 planned hours against 1,280 available (118%).
- Late Order
- Items
- HP-350 (200), HP-500 (150), DV-100 (480)
- Reschedule In
- Item
- CST-350 on PO4471
- Reschedule Out
- Item
- CY-450 on WO2291
- Cancel
- Item
- SEAL-KIT-C on PO4466
covered by the transfer from Dayton
-
-
Action · Power BI and Excel · 5:00 in the video
Prepare the review pack
Pull last month's results against the locked plan from Plan vs. actual. In the review pack workbook, show the KPIs against target, the demand-versus-capacity table and each option with what changes, added cost, on-time-in-full, demand met and risk. Mark the lowest-cost option that meets all demand.
In the video- Forecast accuracy
- 87.4% (target 85%)
- OTIF
- 93.2% (target 95%)
- Days of inventory
- 41 (target 38)
- Utilization
- 91%
- A: Saturday overtime in CNC Machining
- Cost
- $38,400
- OTIF
- 98%
- B: outsource 150 pump housings
- Cost
- $61,500
- OTIF
- 97%
- C: defer 90 pumps to December
- Cost
- $0
- OTIF
- 91%
$166,500 of revenue moves out
-
Action · Outlook · 5:25 in the video
Send the pack to the executives
Email the executive team with the workbook attached, links to the workbench and demand plans, the headline numbers and the options table, and say where the approval is waiting.
In the videoSubject 'S&OP review pack November 2026' with SOP Review Pack 2026-11.xlsx attached.
-
Human review · LaunchAI Portal · 5:56 in the video
Get executive S&OP approval
The executive reviews the plan, the constraint, last month against the locked plan and the options, then approves or rejects with a note. Approval locks the plan and releases orders; rejection releases nothing and sends planners back to revise scenarios.
In the videoExecutive S&OP approval for the November 2026 plan, assigned to the COO.
- Units
- 3,375
- Constraint
- CNC Machining at 118%
- Late
- 3 planned work orders (830 units)
- Selected
- option A
-
Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing · 6:25 in the video
Lock the agreed plan
From Item Demand Plans, export the approved plans as the frozen baseline so next month's plan-versus-actual measures against it.
In the video- Status
- Export complete
- File
- ItemDemandPlans_2026-11_approved.csv
- Plans
- 8 approved
- Units
- 3,375 for November 2026
-
Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing · 6:40 in the video
Release work orders and purchase orders
Use Transactions > Supply Planning > Mass Create Work Orders for the plan's planned orders, then Order Items for purchased components. Check the confirmation counts and that every line shows Released.
In the video- Work orders
- 14 created from the approved plan, WO2305 to WO2318
- Purchase orders
- 9 created and released
-
Decision · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing · 7:24 in the video
Watch for mid-cycle deviations
Check the home reminders, such as purchase orders with a changed receipt date. Open the order and its system notes to see who changed what and why.
- If yes A deviation affects the plan: re-plan the affected orders.
- If no Nothing has changed: keep the locked plan.
In the video- PO
- PO4471
- Vendor
- Great Lakes Castings
- Item
- CST-350 Piston Pump Housing Casting, 400 each
- Expected receipt
- moved from 11/02/2026 to 11/30/2026 by the vendor
- Note
- furnace reline at the foundry
-
Action · Oracle NetSuite Manufacturing and Excel · 8:20 in the video
Re-plan and tell the people affected
Re-run the supply plan, read the new action messages and pegging, and record the revised dates in a deviation summary. Tell planning, procurement and customer service which work orders and customer ship dates moved.
In the videoPO4471 flagged 4 weeks late.
- WO2308 (HP-350, 200) Rescheduled to start 12/01/2026
- SO10482 Midwest Agri-Equipment (120) Moves to ship 12/11/2026
- SO10497 Prairie Hydraulics (60) Moves to ship 12/11/2026
- WO2307 Still covered by 210 CST-350 in stock
-
Rules, exceptions and controls
Rules to follow
- The baseline is the statistical forecast plus the customer adjustment, and never less than the orders already on the books.
- Nothing is released to the shop floor or to suppliers until the executives have approved the plan.
- Any work center over 100% of available hours makes the plan infeasible and needs an option for the decision.
- Each option shows added cost, on-time-in-full, demand met and risk; the pack names the lowest-cost option that meets all demand.
- The approved plan is locked and exported so the next cycle measures plan versus actual against it.
When something doesn't match
- Capacity overload (CNC Machining at 118%): late orders are flagged with their cause and costed options go to the executives.
- Executive rejection: nothing is released and planners revise the scenarios using the comments.
- Supplier slips a receipt date (PO4471 moved four weeks): run an ad-hoc re-plan, reschedule the work order and give customers new ship dates.
- A customer lowers its forecast (CY-450 -20): the baseline is reduced and the related work order is rescheduled out.
Controls and audit trail
- Executive approval in the review queue before any work or purchase order is released.
- Every baseline adjustment keeps its source (EDI forecast, portal forecast, customer change).
- Approved demand plans are exported as a frozen baseline for performance tracking.
- PO system notes keep who changed the expected receipt date and why.
Practitioner tips
- Run S&OP on a fixed calendar so demand, supply and finance each have time to review their section before the meeting.
- Refresh the planning repository before every supply plan run so it uses current BOMs and open transactions.
- Use pegging to show executives which customer orders a constraint actually hits, not just total hours short.
- Always include a zero-cost option, such as deferring demand, so the cost of the recommended option is clear.
About this recording
In the recording, the agent ran the full November 2026 S&OP cycle, from forecast to released orders, and re-planned after a supplier delay. The COO approved the plan before anything was released.
Documented the way you'd train a new hire — and the same way an agent learns it.
Frequently asked questions
How do you run S&OP in Oracle NetSuite?
Calculate item demand plans, adjust them with customer forecasts and backlog, and import the result. Then refresh the planning repository, run the supply plan, and review capacity and action messages in the Supply Planning Workbench before taking options to the executives.
What is an unconstrained demand baseline?
It is what customers are expected to need before capacity is considered: the statistical forecast plus customer adjustments, never below the orders already booked. In the recording it came to 3,375 units, 4.0% over the statistical forecast.
How do you find capacity problems in a NetSuite supply plan?
Compare planned load with available hours by work center, then open the Supply Planning Workbench's Action Messages. Late Order messages with a reason such as 'CNC Machining over capacity' show which orders cannot be met, and pegging shows which sales orders they affect.
What goes into an S&OP review pack?
Last month's KPIs against the locked plan and target, the demand-versus-capacity view, and each option with its cost, service level, demand met and risk. The pack recommends the lowest-cost option that meets all demand.
What happens when a supplier delays a PO after the plan is locked?
Re-run the supply plan, review the new action messages and pegging, reschedule the affected work orders and give the affected customers new ship dates. In the recording, PO4471 moving to 11/30/2026 pushed two HP-350 sales orders to 12/11/2026.
Can an AI agent run the S&OP cycle in NetSuite?
Yes. In the recording, an AI agent works the same NetSuite, Excel, Power BI and Outlook screens a planner would, from the demand baseline through to releasing orders. An executive approves the plan before anything is released.