Synchronizing Supply Chain Operations With Consumer Demand Using Customer Data

SYNCHRONIZING SUPPLY CHAIN OPERATIONS WITH CONSUMER DEMAND USING CUSTOMER DATA By Daniel A. Kiely Identifies, compares, and contrasts various types of demand data streams that flow through in different stages of supply chains … demand planning systems driven by forecasts based on point-of sale data are best suited for synchronizing supply chain plans with consumer demand… where POS information is not available, other customer supplied data can be used as a proxy. For many years, monthly factory shipment data was the only type of non-syndicated demand information available to vendors for forecasting product consumption. Although factory shipment data does not provide the best consumption forecasts, vendors were left with few alternatives. Other demand data, better suited for forecasting consumption, was either difficult or expensive to acquire. However, since the late 1980s, developments in systems technology and improvements in supply chain management have enabled retail customers to provide their vendors with better data. Two key technological developments that have enabled customers to transfer and vendors to process consumption data are Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and ...