“So, even a well thought-out forecasting process can be wasteful if it is not done properly.” This was a remark made by one of the attendees who came to hear my “Lean Forecasting & Planning” presentation at IBF’s recent Business Forecasting & Planning Academy @ 2 Levels. This declaration was also one of the...
After attending the APICS/IBF Best of the Best S&OP conference I came back with a sense of eagerness and ambition to implement what I had learned over the two days I had spent at the conference filled with information. The sessions that I attended included presentations from Motorola, BASF, Rolls-Royce Energy, Rubbermaid, Timberland, &...
Thank you IBF and APICS for organizing a very successful Best of the Best S&OP Conference. Our company is in the early stages of formalizing our S&OP process. The presenters shared many great ideas that we will be able to use as we begin our S&OP journey. I would like to take this opportunity...
We are a medium sized privately held business that has a large ERP, but probably hasn’t invested into its processes and user reporting as much as we should. In my 6 years with the company, I started as the Controller, and then moved to Director of our retail stores/internet operation, and now I fill...
Taking a 7 hour flight from New York to Heathrow, and then dragging yourself down to Central London can be a brutal commute. But, on this day, there were no strenuous travel plans that were going to distract me from my excitement for IBF’s first London Forecasting Meet-up, hosted by Accenture. And I am...
Tom Wallace and I are currently collaborating on a portion of his new book. According to Tom, the book is titled Sales & Operations Planning: Beyond the Basics and according to Tom, “will focus on innovative enhancements to the basic S&OP set of processes”. One such innovative enhancement that has been made by V&M...
This past week the mighty LA Lakers, were swept by the Dallas Mavericks in four games. The Lakers had won two straight NBA titles and were favorites of many to three-peat. Immediately after the 4th loss, which turned out to be one of the five worst losses of series deciding games in the history...
The Background… Throughout a financially turbulent 2009, the Supply Chain at Electrocomponents plc needed to better integrate into the business and become more intelligent, agile and effective. Just two years into our long-term transformation journey, our key innovations have been to: Introduce formal forecasting. Embed leading Supply Chain thinking including demand planning and SIOP...
Forecasting & Planning Professionals strive to reduce error in their work. For all this effort, what is the reward? When asked what the cost of forecast error is, most discussions turn to the consequential impact of inaccurate forecasts. Consequential impacts include lost sales and profits, expedited freight, excess and obsolete inventory, and unhappy customers....
Trading Places The storyline is an old one. It was the theme of the 1983 American comedy titled Trading Places starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy. You may remember it; It is one of my favorite funny movies in which an upper class commodities broker and a homeless street hustler switch roles when they...