Innovations in Business Forecasting

Downstream data have been available to consumer products manufacturers for over four decades. Companies receive daily and weekly retailer POS data down to the SKU/UPC level through electronic data interchange, as well as weekly Syndicated Scanner data to supplement their downstream data by market, channel, brand, product group, product, and SKU. Business leaders in manufacturing, particularly in the supply chain, have been slow to adopt downstream data. So why are companies so slow to adopt downstream data to enhance their demand forecasting and planning process? cHarlES W. cHaSE, Jr. , cPF | Mr. Chase is the Advisory Industry Consultant and CPG Subject Matter Expert for the Manufacturing and Supply Chain Global Practices at SAS Institute, Inc. He is also the principal solutions architect and thought leader for delivering demand planning and forecasting solutions to improve SAS customers’ supply chain efficiencies. Prior to that, he worked for various companies, including the Mennen Company, Johnson & Johnson, Consumer Products Inc., Reckitt Benckiser PLC, Polaroid Corporation, Coca Cola, Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals, and Heineken USA. He has more than 20 years of experience ...