How Can Demand Planning Software be a Solution to Manage Overstocks and Stock-outs?
To avoid these conditions, you need to manage your supply and demand effectively. Companies need to start forecasting demand to meet consumer requirements. The best demand planning software helps businesses understand consumer needs. It identifies the trending market, what products to manufacture, the number of employees to hire, and what pricing to consider.
Learn how demand planning solutions can help your business to generate an accurate sales forecast
What is a demand planning software?
Demand planning software is defined as the process of integrating historical sales data, relevant business information, and seasonal analysis to generate short-term or long-term estimates of future demand. Demand planning also considers promotions, marketing, new product launches, and discounts to forecast accurate demand for products.
Benefits of using demand planning software
Following are the benefits of demand planning software
• Increased speed:
Demand planning software can handle multiple tasks simultaneously. The data processing speed of demand management software is high, due to which the entire process becomes faster. You can rely on demand and supply planning software to manage various operations such as data collection, statistic analysist is, data modeling, product lifestyle management, and replenishment planning without compromising with the speed.
• Flexibility:
Demand planning and forecasting software is customized to estimate and fulfill consumer demand. It’s a highly scalable software program that allows easy handling of higher volumes of data for flexibility in business operations.
• Enhanced accuracy:
Demand planning software ensures the safe storage of data used for forecasting. It has in-built systemic checks to increase output accuracy.
• High efficiency:
The demand forecasting process is simplified, and input data is automatically refreshed to provide higher efficiency output.
• Saves cost:
Demand planning and forecasting software increases business operations efficiency and helps manage your inventory and regulate the business’ supply chain.
How demand planning software assists your business operations?
Demand planning and forecasting software manage inventory to meet customer demand at the right time and in the right place. If your product isn’t available to the customer at the right time, you might lose out on revenue, and also your business could lose customers to a competitor. On the other hand, overstock situations incur space and production costs. With demand planning solutions, companies can manage inventory owing to the market shifts and make proactive decisions to fulfill customer requirements.
• Data Segmentation:
Demand planning software enables the sorting and segmentation of historical data based on the SKU, seasonality, distribution area, customer and type of product, etc.
• Statistical analysis and forecasting
Demand and supply planning software uses historical data and relevant statistical analysis to generate a forecast. Statistical forecasting is also used to monitor seasonal shifts to draw accurate estimates.
• Inter-departmental communication
Multiple users can access the demand planning software simultaneously to process their data online or offline. Collaboration with manufacturers, salespeople, suppliers, and stakeholders to share information becomes easier. Demand planning software can help to carry out inter-departmental communication effectively.
• What-if Scenarios
A what-if simulation is an essential aspect of forecasting. This is when you can test certain outcomes by inputting temporary numbers into the system. You can see what will happen depending on each scenario. Demand planning and forecasting software consider various factors like pricing, competitor analysis, promotions, new product launches, and market intelligence to generate accurate forecasts, helping your business to adjust to market shifts.
• Performance Monitoring
Demand planning and forecasting software tracks market shifts caused due to changing market patterns, shipment issues, and updating trends.
• Product portfolio management
Inventory management improves significantly. Demand and supply planning software also analyzes the impact of new product launches, rebates, pricing, and marketing promotions on consumer demand.
• Demand forecast
Predict consumer demand based on historical data and relevant business information.
• Demand plan
Draws an estimate of cost, type, and location of inventory required to fulfill the forecasted consumer demand.
Demand planning for supply chain
With advancements in technology, demand planning, and supply chain, processes are digitized, leading to more accurate results. Machine learning has empowered real-time forecasts without missing consumer demand even during market shifts.
Demand management software has become a beneficial tool for supply chain professionals over the past few years. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning program supplemented in demand management software can create a data-driven approach to boost revenue, reduce operation costs, and survive the competitor market. Demand planning is considered an essential step in increasing the supply chain’s profitability.
If your business is affected by market shifts, it’s time to replace your traditional function allometric with demand planning and forecasting software. Along with predicting sales, demand management software synchronizes the supply chain management operation. Avercast has influenced the forecasting industry by developing 280+algorithms to forecast accurate demand. Learn more about our forecasting software and how it can help your business to establish a data-driven demand chain. Schedule a Demo today!
