New Years Resolution, A Bit Early
As we ease out of crisis mode and plan for more stable waters, we find ourselves asking how can we take advantage of the upturn, and what will it take to do... Read More...
Forecasting in a Challenging Business Environment: Lessons From Procter & Gamble
Developing accurate forecasts is never easy. The current economic environment makes it even more challenging and many businesses have a bias to over forecast... Read More...
The “MAGIC” of Better Demand Planning in Orlando and I am Not Talking About Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck
Many firms have no strategy for dealing with unforecastables and some even pretend that all items are statistically forecastable. Statistical tests need to b... Read More...
YES WE CAN Align our Volume Forecasts with our Financial Forecasts and Work with a Single Number for a Long Term Time Horizon
Dr. Jain (Chief Editor of the IBF’s Journal of Business Forecasting), and I have recently been collaborating on an article that is a wake up call for Planning... Read More...
Management – One More Unpredictable Forecasting Variable
It is bad enough that consumer behavior is never 100 percent predictable, but the unpredictable behavior of management also compounds forecasting errors. Ove... Read More...
Turbulent Times: Forecast and Plan Demand with Excel Spreadsheets and Gut Instinct??
DOW up, DOW down; oil prices spike, oil prices spiral down; jobless claims up, jobless claims steady!! The news is full of contradictions. Is it the start of ... Read More...
Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) Best Practice – Says Who?
Who defines and says what are best practices? The person speaking? The loudest voice? The person with the most expensive shoes? The person with the most impre... Read More...
“One Number Planning” & S&OP
I was asked recently to clarify my previous objections to a “One Number” planning world! In the late 90’s and early 2000’s there was a movement underfoot to d... Read More...
GOOD STUFF in Chicago, The Business Case for S&OP
No I’m not talking about the Chicago Cubs or deep dish pizza. Rather, I’m talking about our third Best of the Best S&OP Conference, co-sponsored by APICS... Read More...
“The Perfect Pull Supply Chain: Why The Elimination of Forecasting Decreases Inventory and Increases Availability”
I recently came across this white paper with the above title, written by a company called AGENTRICS, which I found very strange and contradictory. Here are ... Read More...