Forecasting and Demand Planning
Simple item level forecasting can satisfy many businesses, but
with ever-increasing complexity being introduced by shorter product
life cycles, expanding regional and global customer bases and an
explosion of new product variations and alternative brands,
advanced demand management becomes a necessity.
In addition, the way we do business is also changing.
Manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers need to
constantly collaborate with their suppliers to ensure that they are
constantly in synchronization with demand variations caused by
promotional plans and new product introductions.
Hence, the need for a single, accurate and up-to-date demand
forecast is greater than ever and the challenge companies face is
to design an effective demand management process that is easy to
understand, use and maintain.
Optimiza Demand Planner (ODP) has been designed to meet these
requirements.
The functionality within ODP includes tournament forecasting,
sales history cleansing, top-down bottom-up forecasting, new part
introductions, life cycle management, event and promotional
management and accuracy and alerts function. The Data Streaming
functionality allows the forecast to be viewed and managed from any
angle.
ODP interfaces with in-house Host or ERP systems in a number of
different ways i.e. via a simple flat file transfer, an ETL direct
database interface tool or our SAP Certified Interface Tool.
Our inventory-optimization modelling tool Optimiza complements
ODP by converting the resulting line item forecast into the optimal
inventory levels and replenishment plan. Our first class network
design application CAST complements Optimiza by modelling global or
regional supply chain networks and can be used in combination with
or independently of our Optimiza software.
More than 600 companies and 4,000 people involved in supply
chain planning across Europe, the USA, Asia Pacific, Australia and
Africa have, in partnership with Barloworld Supply Chain Software,
gained better control of their supply chains and created
opportunities to model the future of their companies. We would be
delighted to share some of our individual experiences with you.
Please contact us for our case studies and testimonials.