Supply Chain Planning Blog 

Over the years we’ve built strong relationships with hundreds of global companies, and we hear the same challenges again and again: they can’t accurately plan for intermittent demand, they’ve got too much capital tied up in inventory, and their planners are overwhelmed by data management and complicated math. In an ever-changing global economy with all its unexpected twists and turns, supply...

“Good old supply chain. It just gets simpler every year!”

… said no VP of supply chain ever. 

We’ve created quite a monster with all the sophisticated tools we use to influence demand with pricing, new product introductions and promotions. Internet-fed trends are changing at hyper-speed. As businesses use more “levers” to influence demand, demand variability grows. The good news is that you...

2019 is officially in the books, and it’s a perfect time to reflect on the past 12 months as we dive into planning for 2020. Throughout the year our ToolsGroup supply chain planning blog contributors kept you up to speed on the trends, technologies and influencers shaping our industry. Enjoy six of our most-read blogs from 2019–and be sure to subscribe to receive our blogs twice a month.

In my decades of working in replenishment and inventory optimization, I’ve noticed that many companies seek solutions to symptoms rather than the underlying problem. I want to let you in on a secret: software companies are happy to sell you something you don’t need. Of course, you’ll never want to deal with that company again.

The anticipation, the demand curve and spending patterns during the promotion, and the post promotion periods all require unique logic with machine learning to keep customers happy and balance inventory. 

Demand forecasting augmented by machine learning helps you better meet customer expectations with reduced inventory investment.