Evolution In Business Forecasting:experts Share Their Journey

EVOLUTION IN BUSINESS FORECASTING: EXPERTS SHARE THEIR JOURNEY For this issue, we wanted to explore how forecasting function has evolved over the past twenty-five years in terms of technology, management support, forecasting process, and software. We requested eighteen experts in the field to share their views on the past and the future. This article gives their thoughts as well as their prognosis about the future. Ed. When I began my career in Sales, our estimates for customer orders for promotions and new products were always overstated because we wanted to be sure there was enough product allocated to meet our customer’s needs. When I moved into Marketing we gave Supply Planning a forecast to build inventories to meet upside sales potential, but we submitted lower volumes for our financial commitments. To top things off, Supply Planning would build their plan by discounting what was given to them based on what they thought was realistic demand. During that time, each group had goals and objectives that often competed with each other. Sales and Marketing were expected to beat their numbers, but Supply Planning had to maintain low inventories, low delivery costs, and high ...