By Erik de Vos & Wout Olde Hampsink
In the ever-evolving world of demand planning, we see the human effort involved in forecasting intensifying despite the analytics and technological tools available. While the challenge in predicting demand for products and services has increased, planners are still relying on manual approaches. The big question is: how can we deliver tangible proof of what automated forecast solutions can bring?
Our Forecast Fast Scan delivers the proof you need to start your move towards more automation in your forecasting set-up. In just a few days, we show where and how you can improve versus your current forecast performance by introducing automation in the form of statistical forecast models.
The challenge
Despite the huge workload, forecasting remains a manual thing
One of the primary challenges in a manual demand forecasting process is that it is labor-intensive. Countless hours are spent each month to improve and correct data in various spreadsheets, which will drain internal resources and open the door for human errors and inefficiency. Furthermore, as a direct consequence of manual processes, the quality of forecasts is not up to the mark. Inaccurate forecasts lead to missed opportunities and unexpected shortfalls, which affect overall business performance.
Often teams find themselves stuck in this data collection and analysis cycle, leaving little time for actual demand planning and taking decisions based on the forecast. The human effort in forecasting is intensified despite the analytics and tools available.
But forecasting does not need to be a manual process. There is abundant proof that forecast automation adds value in almost every situation. However, seeing that it works for others does not always suffice to bring belief it can work for you as well. Ideally, you can see the automation work with your data, before you jump into it.
The product
The EyeOn Forecast Fast Scan to boost your insight
The EyeOn Forecast Fast Scan is designed to quickly generate a demand forecast for a part of your portfolio based on the same historical data you are using in your current planning setup. Our high-end data science platform uses statistical algorithms to identify patterns and trends in the data and uses these to generate a forecast for the future. It utilizes the existing levels of aggregation/disaggregation, parameters, cleansing algorithms, and evaluation KPIs, or, in case not available, a best-practice EyeOn approach. The output generates a detailed statistical forecast, which can be used to check the quality of a customer’s current forecast.
When you currently use simple tools (e.g., Excel-based solutions) or want insight into the performance of your existing forecasting software, this EyeOn Forecast Fast Scan will help you. In just 3-4 days, it will clearly show the benefits of working with advanced statistical forecast methods and algorithms. The key benefits will be 3-fold:
- Get confirmation of the forecastability of your business
- Quantify the forecast quality potential versus your current performance
- Identify where & why statistical forecast is not sufficient
Appropriate for
A combination of insights answering a range of challenges
With the EyeOn Forecast Fast Scan, we bring the required insight on forecast set-ups and automation with statistical forecast models. And this can be valuable in numerous situations, like:
- Still working in a very manual way
Do you recognize the following: still using manual forecast approaches often in Excel, the forecast is the result of mostly judgement, a heavy manual workload across multiple functions, lacking insight in performance, no methods to use historical patterns, no time to analyze and drive improvement?
- You have forecasting tools, but are doubting their performance
Do you recognize the following: tools with extensive forecast engine offerings not being used, lacking clarity on how clean your sales data, lacking approach on how to set your model and parameters, forecasts mostly manually overwritten?
- You have working forecast set-ups, but want to explore differentiation
Do you recognize the following: you have a working statistical forecast set-up, but it does not work for a specific part of the portfolio, it is hard to investigate if different forecast levels & settings would bring value?
Stepping out of current forecast set-ups is a challenge. Especially if you cannot prove that the new set-up will bring the improvement you are looking for. All you need to collect that proof with the EyeOn Forecast Fast Scan are 2 things:
- Your sales data
- Your product and customer data
And when you want to compare our results to your current performance, you can add your own forecast in the mix.
Results
Widely used across industries and use cases
Statistical forecasting isn’t about replacing human judgement; it’s about enhancing it. With the right tools and technology, demand planners can make informed decisions based on robust data-driven insights. Let’s explore some practical examples where the EyeOn Forecast Fast Scan was used.
Forecast Fast Scan in life science
For a company in the Pharma industry, the Forecast Fast Scan checked the maturity level of their current Excel-based setup. With the availability of their product sales data, the results of the Forecast Fast Scan gave direct insights into how to mature the demand planning process. With the segmentation section of the scan results, the company can shift focus to automating less important products and putting enrichments to their most important product parts. The Forecast Fast Scan gave direct insights into the forecastability of the different segments, which gave the opportunity to reshape the process.
Forecast Fast Scan in the process industry
Another use case of the Forecast Fast Scan is coming from the process industry. During a redesign workshop of the demand planning process of the company, Forecast Fast Scan was able to include the benefits of statistics, besides their current forecast generation methods. The results of the scan showed a significant improvement to their consensus forecast, which resulted in the elaboration that statistics should be a key element in the demand planning process.
Forecast Fast Scan in FMCG
The last example focuses more on ore on an FMCG company who already successfully implemented a statistical forecast approach. With Forecast Fast Scan, the company was able to test the impact of a new forecast time-bucket to improve the balance from demand to supply. The results of the Forecast Fast Scan made the company knowledgable about the forecastability from monthly to weekly buckets.
Forecast Fast Scan in a nutshell
The EyeOn Forecast Fast Scan gives straightforward and fast access to the key elements you need to start your statistical forecasting journey.
- Demand insights to steer your thinking on forecast levels
- Determine what a cleaning set-up should cover for you
- Determine the role of seasonality and trend for your business
- Get the validation on the set of forecast models that do the trick for you.
- Quantify the forecast quality potential for your business with statistics
Are you ready to discover how statistical models can build a solid foundation for your demand planning and bring more value to the role of your demand planners? The Fast Forecast Scan provides you with rapid insights into the main demand characteristics and forecastability of your business. It reveals the highest possible statistical forecast accuracy that can be reached and identifies the main opportunities for improvement. All in just a few days.
Will you grab the chance to give your forecast insights a boost? Discover more about the Forecast Fast Scan or get in contact with our forecasting specialists.
