Daniel Fitzpatrick

5 Reasons to Include Customer Service in Demand Planning Meetings

Daniel FitzpatrickOctober 18, 2024

Experienced Demand Planners add value to statistical forecasts by bringing in customer and market knowledge that algorithms alone can’t capture. By monitoring information about their customers in the press and trade journals, they can gain a pers... Read More...

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Working with the Sales Sharks in Demand Planning

Daniel FitzpatrickJuly 1, 2024

In many companies there often appears to be a difficult relationship between the sales and demand planning teams when it comes to the plan numbers. While some tension between these teams is inevitable, it seems to me that perhaps we are viewing t... Read More...

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How Demand Planners Can Help Other Functions While Maintaining Boundaries

Daniel FitzpatrickNovember 9, 2023

Effective demand planning requires ongoing collaboration with many other teams. Sales, Finance, Supply and Operations — among others — depend on reliable demand planning data. Demand Planners frequently exchange data with members of these teams i... Read More...

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Building Colleagues’ Trust in the Demand Planning Role

Daniel FitzpatrickAugust 31, 2022

You came to the meeting well prepared. You had all your data well organized, your charts were all updated and you had copies for everyone. The meeting began well, and you offered your insights and recommendations to the team. Everyone listened, b... Read More...

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No, AI Isn’t Coming For Your Demand Planning Job

Daniel FitzpatrickJanuary 4, 2022

The integration of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning into the S&OP process allows companies to become more agile in response to changes in demand. Data sources that previously were hard to analyze due to complexity or sheer volume ... Read More...

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Building An Environment Where Demand Planners Can Succeed

Daniel FitzpatrickMarch 4, 2021

Effective demand planning requires good processes, agile systems, and talented people. Getting these all to work together requires a culture that rewards performance with opportunities for career growth as was as financial benefits. All too of... Read More...

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Beware The Pitfalls Of AI In Demand Planning

Daniel FitzpatrickFebruary 16, 2021

As we integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into our demand planning processes, I am sure that we will see improvement in our ability to anticipate demand rather than react to it. However, accurate forecasting is only o... Read More...

Advanced Analytics1 Comment 0

eCommerce planning requires a shift in both methodology and mindset.

Demand Planning for the e-Commerce Channel

Daniel FitzpatrickJune 15, 2020

The biggest shift for me in dealing with the e-Commerce channel was a mindset. I had approached planning for this channel with the same tools and perspective that had worked for me in planning for retail and distribution customers. These were not eff... Read More...

Models & MethodsOmnichannel1 Comment 0

Image of circuit board with big data text

Big Data & Advanced Analytics Will Not Save Your Company

Daniel FitzpatrickMay 26, 2020

I’ve got bad news for you . . . Well, perhaps not bad news but certainly news that is important. All that data you have been collecting? Most of it is probably junk. Those advanced analytical tools? Worthless. Pretty bold statements, right? ... Read More...

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Do Forecasts Have To Be Right To Be Valuable?

Daniel FitzpatrickJune 12, 2019

"I hate this part of my job -there's no way to be right." I'd had the same thought many times. I was talking to a fellow demand planner, who was under pressure to provide more accurate forecasts. It was a no-win situation. "So stop trying to be... Read More...

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