New Demand Forecasting and Lead Time Forecasting Ideas: Top 5 Blogs of 2015
Earlier this year we decided to revamp our company blog. We’ve been working hard to deliver fresh content and fresh perspectives every week. You may have also seen our new Slide Share presentations on lead time and seasonality and our new whiteboard animation on Lead Time Forecasting. (If you haven’t seen them, click the links and take a look.) We are really excited about all this new content and it turns out, so is everyone else! In case you missed them, take a look at our most read, most shared, and most talked about blogs from 2015. We’ve covered everything from lead time forecasting and lost sales to omni-channel retailing. In 2016 you can expect to see even more new and insightful demand forecasting, supply chain, and retail content from us, including a few surprises I can’t talk about yet. Stay tuned!
#1) The 7 Reasons Your Lead Time is Wrong (And It’s Costing You Millions)
Lead Time drives your order points and helps you place orders at just the right time. If your lead time is inaccurate you will quickly find yourself overstocked or understocked. Are you making these common lead time mistakes that cost retailers millions?
#2) The Unseen Biggest Dangers of Lost Sales
Lost Sales are just a KPI, Right?!?
Lost sales are a perpetual worry for all retailers. Most replenishment systems and demand forecasting systems offer a lost sales calculation to help retailers manage this key business problem. But is your lost sales calculation actually helping you as much as you thought? Turns out, many demand forecasting systems aren’t using lost sales the way they should.
#3) Why some Vendor Managed Inventories ‘EXPLODE’ on Your Shelf
Collaborating with vendors is something every retailer does every day. Cultivating relationships is key to making things go more smoothly. But most retailers have difficulty supplying vendors with one piece of communication, and it can become a big pain point.Find out how you can improve your vendor relationships, reduce lost sales, and satisfy more customers with one important piece of information: demand forecast.
#4) Omni-Channel Fulfillment: Cure for the Common Cold or Hiding the Truth?
“Omni-channel” is a big buzz word in retail right now. Everyone wants to be “Omni-Channel”. The reasoning for an omni-channel approach is sound. But if you are using omni-channel order fulfillment, you may be covering up deeper demand forecasting problems. Is your replenishment or demand forecasting system up to the task of omni-channel retailing?
#5) The 6 Seasonal Index Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make
Demand Forecasting and Imports, together, those two words always provide a long sigh around the planning room when discussing inventory replenishment. The Chinese New Year hits in January or February, oddly enough every year; yet many businesses miss sales every year due to the work stopping in China. While this is not a new holiday, the problems it brings to many today are the same issues that have faced wholesale and retail since the invention of the container ship. This popular blog highlights the three key things to review in your supply chain and how to evaluate your potential for problems. The popularity of the blog surprised us because the issue we highlight is not new, but clearly remains a pain point for many.
What People are Planning to Do Different in 2016
Demand Forecasting and Inventory Replenishment are critical pieces of your supply chain and overall business success. What is interesting to see is how a change in supply chain management focus has occurred this year. We see and hear more questions and comments around slow and intermittent demand, seasonality and lead time. This makes sense as we review the customer today who is informed faster (not always more accurate) and the informed customer is making quicker buying decisions. We see fashion is changing faster and the need for new tech hardware to be introduced multiple times in a year. New products depend on accurate demand forecast, but the fast changes in product also create issues with more slow and intermittent demand. Finally, the influx of new products is creating the need for better use of lead time information to know when and how much to order. Today the science of products runs past the ‘art’ of product as the need for faster supply chains add new complexity to the market. We see this year 2016 as pivotal in the science of supply chain. Now is a good time to review the links in your chain and just maybe you need to “Tighten the Links in Your Chain™”.
- Demand Forecasting: The Ultimate Secret for Your Organization’s Success - August 7, 2024
- How to Avoid Carrying Cost Mistakes in Inventory Optimization - June 10, 2024
- 3 Common Forecasting Software Issues and How to Fix - May 20, 2024