This is a good question. As I traveled down to Florida for the IBF’s Supply Chain Planning & Forecasting: Best Practices Conference w/ Advanced Practices in S&OP Forum I wasn’t sure which was harder to explain as a concept. After a few days at conference I can, with confidence, say that Sales & Operations...
What do battery operated lawnmowers, $1B of crop protection annual R&D and making chemical drum orders on your iPhone have in common? More than you would think. All of these things have been used as examples of how the world’s leading companies are working to improve their supply chain planning and forecasting process at...
Teamwork, collaboration, transparency and increased profitability. Sounds like some Disney Magic, right? Well based on the experiences shared from the panel at the Institute of Business Forecasting & Planning’s kickoff event on Sunday dubbed the ‘Advanced S&OP Practices Forum’ it’s in fact real and achievable. The panel, which was an opening to IBF’s Supply...
How many times have you heard your Forecast Accuracy is too low and it must improve? Then you think, “It is a forecast!! If I could predict it to 100%, I’d have gone to Vegas and be retired now.” Well, we may not be able to help out your early-retirement plan that comes from...
When the Institute of Business Forecasting & Planning (IBF) was formed, I was still in diapers. Around the same time that Dr. Jain had the novel idea of bringing business practitioners together to learn and grow together I was only crawling over my father’s journal article notes. I didn’t know it at the time,...
A big treat in attending a conference is not only learning from attendees, but also having the benefit of one-stop shopping when it comes to vendors in the exhibit hall. These vendors travel across the country, often times lugging huge displays, screens, white papers and swag to meet with current and potential clients and...
When you come to a conference, all you want is to talk to as many people as you can so you can learn what everyone else is doing and learn from them. Speaking with one attendee, they shared how in their group, there is only four demand planners, spread across the globe. The benefit...
Wednesday afternoon kicked off this year’s Institute of Business Forecasting & Planning’s Best Practices Conference with a near-standing room only pre-conference Demand Management Forum. The Forum was led by Mike Gilliand from SAS and a panel of experts who brought the group through three topics: (1) Applying demand management sensing, shaping and creating, (2)...
The Global Neighborhood of demand planners and forecasting professionals is coming together. Conversations and discussions are happening throughout the world and answers/ comments to common challenges are being addressed in forums. Since 1981, the IBF has educated and trained this community through publications, events, newsletters , membership benefits and certification. Now more than ever,...