Demand Planning

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Advanced Demand Forecasting: A Complete Guide

25 February 2025

Demand planning has evolved dramatically in recent years. Businesses have to shift from supply-focused approaches to advanced demand forecasting models. Traditional forecasting methods often fail under high variability, leading to excess costs, stockouts, and obsolescence, and still struggle to balance accuracy[...]

Seasonal Inventory and 7 Ways to Manage It Effectively

25 October 2022

Seasonal Inventory and 7 Ways to Manage It Effectively

My eight-year-old self counted down the days to October 1 – the day my mother finally let me bedeck her spotless house with cobwebs and window clings of ghosts and goblins. It never occurred to me then that someone had[...]

7 Ways Businesses Can Manage Supply Chain Shortages in 2022

23 November 2021

7 Ways Businesses Can Manage Supply Chain Shortages in 2022

With 2021's holiday shopping season behind us, supply delays, logistics constraints, and inflation loomed over shoppers and retailers—and the manufacturers and distributors who keep them in supply. The supply chain shortages from 2021 remain the story of our lives today,[...]

Are You Prepared For The Next Chip Shortage?

8 September 2021

Are You Prepared For The Next Chip Shortage?

The worldwide chip shortage is bad and getting worse. Yet another aftershock of the COVID-19 pandemic, computer and hardware chips have been slow to recover amidst uncertain market conditions and a worldwide supply chain that was completely unprepared to deal[...]

What Is Supply Chain Risk Management…and Why Can’t I Get a PS5?

What Is Supply Chain Risk Management…and Why Can’t I Get a PS5?

Do you want to buy a Playstation 5? Get in line. Severe supplier constraints and the resulting chip shortage have made things quite tenuous for fans of Sony’s latest gaming system. Plus, since semiconductor-based materials make up 40 percent of[...]

Five Tips for How to Run a Successful Software Proof of Concept (POC)

Five Tips for How to Run a Successful Software Proof of Concept (POC)

Selecting and implementing a new supply chain solution is a risky career move for any supply chain manager. The wrong solution can cost the company millions and cost the manager their job. In my last post, I talked about why[...]

For Distributors, Mitigating Supply Uncertainty Begins with a Better Forecast

For Distributors, Mitigating Supply Uncertainty Begins with a Better Forecast

Distribution industry supply chains have always been squeezed between manufacturers and their customers; facing increased competitive threats, escalating SKU counts, and expanding ecommerce. Today distributors are navigating increasingly unpredictable supplier lead times and availability. In a recent digital transformation in[...]

Why a Software Proof of Concept (POC) Is Better than an RFI

Why a Software Proof of Concept (POC) Is Better than an RFI

A proof of concept (POC) is an increasingly common method to select the best supply chain software vendor for your company, yet many supply chain practitioners still lean on the traditional RFI (request for information) tool. Software selection is risky.[...]

How to Select Supply Chain Planning Software

How to Select Supply Chain Planning Software

Selecting the right supply chain planning technology isn’t simply about solving a current challenge. The implications are much broader--if you implement the wrong software, you hinder your organization’s overall supply chain strategy and business objectives. According to the 2021 Digital[...]

Product Forecasting: Understanding Demand Throughout the Product Life Cycle

Product Forecasting: Understanding Demand Throughout the Product Life Cycle

Demand forecasting is tough. Demand forecasting over the entire product life cycle during the course of launch, maturation, and end-of-life is tougher still. This is true for any business with sizable turnover in the product portfolio, but product forecasting in[...]

Supply Chain Planning BPO: What’s Driving It and Should You Get On Board?

Supply Chain Planning BPO: What’s Driving It and Should You Get On Board?

You know that great feeling you get when you have an expert getting the job done? More and more businesses are hopping on the outsourcing bus and letting the experts take the wheel to drive supply chain planning processes. Several[...]

The Absolut Company: Balancing Service and Inventory Creates a Delicious Mix

The Absolut Company: Balancing Service and Inventory Creates a Delicious Mix

The world’s #2 selling vodka brand leaves nothing to chance when it comes to quality and sustainability. Here’s how they teamed up with ToolsGroup partner Optilon for a seamless supply chain planning process. With continuously shifting consumer preferences and brands[...]

Quick Start Guide to Using Machine Learning for Demand Planning

Quick Start Guide to Using Machine Learning for Demand Planning

Anyone who has done demand planning knows it is extremely complex, with forecasting challenges and rapidly shifting consumer demand, often exacerbated by seasonality, new product introductions, promotions, and myriad causal factors (e.g. weather, social media). The good news is that[...]

Should You Outsource Demand Planning?

Should You Outsource Demand Planning?

Outsourcing non-core business processes has been a time-tested way to cut costs while improving performance. Initially companies focused on functions like Finance and HR. But now they have started outsourcing supply chain business processes like demand planning, allowing them to[...]

Decoding the Language of Demand

Decoding the Language of Demand

If you’ve been in supply chain for any length time, you might be wondering what caused demand forecasting to develop so many different ‘personalities’ over the years, such as demand forecasting, demand planning, demand sensing, and demand shaping. What’s going[...]

How to Move from Gartner Stage 2 to Stage 3 Retailing

How to Move from Gartner Stage 2 to Stage 3 Retailing

Using the Gartner Demand Planning five stage maturity scale, analyst Mike Griswold estimated on a recent call that retailers as a group averaged just 2.3 out of 5.0, leaving money on the table due to poor inventory performance. In a[...]

Is Digital Transformation Bringing Traditional Grocery to Its Expiration Date?

7 December 2017

Is Digital Transformation Bringing Traditional Grocery to Its Expiration Date?

Grocery stores, long thought to be immune to the “Amazon Effect”, were shaken in August of 2017 when Amazon acquired Whole Foods. While companies like Instascart and Peapod have provided home delivery for years, this acquisition was like a shot[...]

Four Reviews of DDMRP for Supply Chain Planning

24 October 2017

Four Reviews of DDMRP for Supply Chain Planning

In recent months four experts have weighed in on Demand Driven Material Requirements Planning (DDMRP). Here is an overview of those reviews, followed by my own short commentary, plus links to the articles at the end of the post. Lora Cecere[...]

Building a Business Case for Improved Demand Forecasting

11 October 2017

Building a Business Case for Improved Demand Forecasting

I’ve always maintained that improving demand forecast accuracy, as helpful as it can be, shouldn’t be the end goal itself, but simply a means to the end, and a recent report from Gartner agrees, focusing specifically on the challenge of[...]

A Shift in Supply Chain Planning Priorities?

5 September 2017

A Shift in Supply Chain Planning Priorities?

Increased demand volatility still tops business pressure, says Aberdeen ... but supply chain planning priorities are changing. For several years there has been a commonly held belief that focusing on improving demand forecast accuracy should be a top priority for Chief[...]

The Difference between Multichannel, Omnichannel and Unified Commerce. And Why It’s Important.

The Difference between Multichannel, Omnichannel and Unified Commerce. And Why It’s Important.

Creating a common language is often an important first step to understanding new retail supply chain approaches, so we wanted to clarify the difference between multichannel, omnichannel and unified commerce. As shoppers use technology more frequently during their buying journey,[...]

Supply Chain Data is a Time-Sensitive Asset. Now We Know Just How Much

14 February 2017

Supply Chain Data is a Time-Sensitive Asset. Now We Know Just How Much

It’s said that “Time is of the essence.” Now a new Nucleus Research report quantifies just how time-sensitive an asset supply chain planning data can be. The Half Life of Data (Anne Moxie, January 2017) describes the deteriorating value of supply chain[...]

Why CPG Demand Forecasting Has Hit a Ceiling

Why CPG Demand Forecasting Has Hit a Ceiling

Consumer package goods (CPG) companies are looking for growth and scouring markets for opportunity. Their product portfolios grow with new product introductions, fresh takes on existing merchandise, and multiplying sales channels. Boston Consulting Group talks about how the “endless aisles”[...]

Why Individual Retail Stores Shouldn’t Order Their Own Inventory

Why Individual Retail Stores Shouldn’t Order Their Own Inventory

In the old days, each store knew best what inventory it needed to keep shelves stocked and customers satisfied. But with today’s product proliferation and demand complexity—including now often the need to operate as a satellite fulfillment center for orders[...]

Changing Supply Chain Planning Dashboards

Changing Supply Chain Planning Dashboards

Think about how the automobile dashboard has changed in the last 20 years. It wasn’t that long ago that it displayed simple information—how fast the vehicle was going (speedometer), how rapidly the engine was turning (tachometer), how far the car[...]

Why “Sense and Respond” Supply Chain Planning Requires a “Single Model”

Why “Sense and Respond” Supply Chain Planning Requires a “Single Model”

A single underlying model is a key technology enabler to the “sense and respond” strategy advocated by Gartner in our last blog post. Here is why. Sense and respond requires connecting functional processes with an immediate flow of coherent information, maximizing[...]

Supply Chain Planning for Omni-Channel Holiday Retailing

9 December 2014

Supply Chain Planning for Omni-Channel Holiday Retailing

At many retailers, holiday shopping is the Super Bowl of supply chain planning. Demand comes at you from all directions, at all times day and night. Filling that demand—in a way that makes business sense—can drive a Chief Supply Chain Officer to[...]

Supply Chain Innovation: Data, Data, Everywhere …. But Where to Begin?

21 October 2014

Supply Chain Innovation: Data, Data, Everywhere …. But Where to Begin?

Last week we reviewed a Gartner keynote presentation on how supply chains are becoming more data and demand analytics driven. But despite the opportunity, some may be wondering, “Where to begin?” So this week, we’ll look at small first steps companies are[...]

Supply Chain Innovation: Focusing on Demand and Analytics

9 September 2014

Supply Chain Innovation: Focusing on Demand and Analytics

Last week we talked about growth, and how supply chain executives can support this CEO priority with advanced technology and supply chain innovation. Now let’s look at where to apply the technology. Lora Cecere’s Voice of the Supply Chain:Leaders Speak on Technology survey says the answer[...]