Fairway Solutions and Intec Jointly Develop S&OP Function for "Φ-Pilot," a Supply and Demand Planning Solution for the Manufacturing Industry

Fairway Solutions Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Fengyan Yin; hereinafter: Fairway Solutions) and Intec Inc., a TIS Intec Group company (Headquarters: Toyama-shi, Toyama; President and CEO: Shuzo Hikida; hereinafter: Intec), announce the joint development of a new S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning) function for their supply and demand planning solution for the manufacturing industry, "Φ-Pilot series" (hereinafter: "Φ-Pilot")*1. This new function adopts a management process that integrates the balance of demand and supply across the entire company to maximize the achievement of profit targets, and will be available starting April 6, 2026.

*1 The official notation is "φ-Pilot series" and "φ-Pilot." The uppercase "Φ" is used as a substitute in this press release.

Fairway Solutions' "Φ-Pilot" is a business solution that supports supply and demand adjustment and inventory optimization in the manufacturing industry.

The S&OP function jointly developed by the two companies incorporates a profit-oriented perspective into "Φ-Pilot"'s supply and demand adjustment functions, thereby supporting the formulation of company-wide optimized supply and demand plans. It enables simulations that consider profit impact for core S&OP elements such as sales planning, inventory planning, and procurement planning. This not only improves the efficiency and sophistication of on-site operations but also visualizes and optimizes information necessary for management decisions.

Going forward, the S&OP function will be provided by both companies and their respective sales and implementation partners for "Φ-Pilot."

Background

In recent years, the manufacturing industry has experienced intense fluctuations in market demand, making it difficult to forecast raw material procurement and prices. Companies handling raw materials and parts are facing an urgent challenge: to move beyond supply and demand planning focused solely on quantity and delivery times, and instead to set profit targets with an awareness of profitability, and to formulate plans and make decisions from a company-wide optimization perspective.
Intec has implemented production management systems for over 100 manufacturing companies and has extensive experience supporting the combined use of production management systems and the supply and demand planning solution "Φ-Pilot." In this process, Intec recognized that S&OP's profit-oriented analysis and simulation functions are indispensable for future supply and demand planning and operation, and proposed adding them to "Φ-Pilot" to Fairway Solutions.

Fairway Solutions also believed that incorporating a profit perspective into "Φ-Pilot" expansion plans would strengthen the competitiveness of their client companies. Consequently, the two companies began collaborating on "Φ-Pilot" product development in April 2022, leading to the joint development of this S&OP function.

About the S&OP Function of "Φ-Pilot"

The S&OP function integrates a profit-oriented perspective into sales, inventory, and procurement plans, which were previously formulated individually by each department. It performs simulations and analyses for each plan, visualizing the management decision-making process. This allows for an integrated understanding of supply and demand status and profit impact, leading to optimized management decisions at the executive level.

The S&OP function consists of the following five features:

1. Sales Plan Change Simulation

This feature supports the formulation of optimal sales plans by calculating profit fluctuations under multiple scenarios when product configurations, sales volumes, or pricing conditions are changed, and then evaluating the profit forecasts.

2. Inventory Plan Change Si