Transforming Sales and Operations Planning in a Complex Defence Industry Environment

Abstract

This master’s thesis investigates how Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) can be further developed within a complex defence industry environment characterised by rapid growth and high product complexity. The empirical context is further characterised by hybrid production strategies, increasing geopolitical demand, long lead times, and engineering-intensive products. The purpose of the study was to analyse the current S&OP process, identify key weaknesses and maturity gaps, and evaluate how process development and digitalisation can improve decision support, cross-functional coordination, and business performance. The results show that Saab Surveillance has established an initial BA-level S&OP structure that has improved transparency and created a first framework for balancing demand and capacity. However, the process remains highly manual, fragmented, and dependent on extensive data aggregation. Twelve structural weaknesses were identified, including unclear governance structures, varying data quality, limited integration between organisational levels, insufficient performance measurement, and weak alignment between strategic, tactical, and operational planning. Based on the findings, a future-state S&OP framework was developed focusing on six central dimensions: strategic alignment, organisation, process, tools and data, performance management, and culture and leadership. The study also identifies several potential business values associated with a more mature S&OP process, including improved delivery precision, better resource utilisation, reduced operational instability, and enhanced decision support. The thesis contributes to the existing S&OP literature by examining planning transformation within a relatively underexplored defence industry context characterised by rapid growth, hybrid production strategies, and high organisational complexity.