Forecasting for Supply Chain Planning

How Forecasting Fits a Successful Process for Supply Chain Planning?
Would you like a perfect forecast? Imagine having the ability to know exactly which product you will sell, how many, and when.
Everyone in business wants a perfect forecast. And nobody gets one. We can all think of reasons why the forecasts are far from perfect.
Yet, like it or not, we all do it. It may not be called forecasting, but we do it every time we make decisions about the future without certainty. Often, we spend too much time thinking about how bad the forecast is, and not enough on how to use it.
In this webinar, we would like to suggest how forecasting fits a successful process for supply chain planning. The forecast could be good, bad, or ugly: we will show you how to cope with that uncertainty and get the most out of the forecasts you have. And, yes, we might have some suggestions on how to make them better.
You will learn:
- How less-than-perfect forecasting fits in a supply chain planning process.
- How a successful forecasting process works. And making a convincing business case for building it.
- The one thing to do before making any improvements to the accuracy of forecast.
- The biggest mistake that companies make when buffering uncertainty with inventory - and what you should do instead.
- Three practical steps to get going with better forecasting.
This webinar is for: Planning, sales, operations, product management, purchasing, supply chain management. Companies that are in manufacturing (make-to-stock or make-to-order) retail or distribution.
No software is required to implement the actions in this webinar. Aside from Excel, and you likely have that one already.

[@Terracotta-warriors_Sea]

Hi Nicholas read both your books and am introducing them in curriculum in our organization. We forecast and order spare parts for MRO to support a wide variety of equipment. The kind of demand we encounter is low, intermittent and lumpy. Please include methods for forecasting such demands in your new book or in revised editions of your previous books.

[@nicolasvandeput-SupChains]

I've published an article on intermittent items here: nicolas-vandeput.medium.com/how-to-forecast-intermittent-products-c5d477b90176

[@francoastegiano6301]

Hey Nicolas, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge! Have a little question for you, let's say there is this company X for which I have done a demand forecast for 2022. Now, this company has to go through a re-branding process in July, what would you say is a sensible way to adjust/modify/include that event in my forecast? Because I feel that my forecast will over estimate demand for Q3 and Q4. Thanks!

[@nicolasvandeput-SupChains]

Hello Franco, no model can forecast such an event. Instead, I would leverage your teams' ideas (just make sure to follow the wisdom of the crowd's best practices)