Forecasting Errors

Sales budgeting

• Work collaboratively across functions to establish sales objectives and analyze performance through top-down, bottom-up, and middle-out data models.
• Identify quantitative or qualitative targets for future sales, and define sales budgets at varying levels of detail, including region, channel, account, product line, or industry.

Sales forecasting

• Trace expected sales to actual sales and use sophisticated, industry-specific algorithms to forecast future demand.
• Evaluate the affect of different forecasting strategies using simulation tools, and periodically measure the error and accuracy of forecasting.

Collaborative planning

• Involve all stakeholders to shape demand planning—from the sales department to customers and throughout the supply chain—with the ability to distinguish and measure all contributions; the included workflow system helps to ensure planning consistency.

Assortment and category planning

• Allocate the right mix of products to the distribution network and carry out intelligent allocations of SKUs to channels and stores.
• Define assortments according to seasonal targets, taking into account sales, margins, stock rotation, and constraints such as display space and allocation rules.
• Control in-season SKUs by detecting bestsellers, low sellers, and overall demand changes.

Inventory and stock optimization

• Analyze lead times, costs, service levels, and demand for inventory to help ensure optimum product allocation across the supply chain.
• Reduce overall inventories while matching customer service levels and minimizing the risk of stock outs.

Replenishment planning/sales and operations planning

• Define replenishment plans for distribution centers while taking into account demand and logistics rules and the affect of different inventory policies on service levels.