Integrating the Forecasting Process with the Supply Chain: Bayer Healthcare's Journey

INTEGRATING THE FORECASTING PROCESS WITH THE SUPPLY CHAIN: BAYER HEALTHCARE’S JOURNEY By Heiko Petersen Describes in detail the supply chain integration efforts of Bayer HealthCare Division, which are based on the Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment process … many products have a built in bias of overand under-forecasting, which has to be removed to improve forecasts … generating accurate forecasts is not at the top of agenda of salespeople. Like other companies in Pharmaceuticals and across industries, the forecasting function is now getting more and more attention at Bayer Group, particularly within Bayer HealthCare (BHC) Division. This may be because our market for OTC (over the counter) products is becoming more volatile and competitive, and the products are highly seasonal. For a forecasting function to succeed, it needs the support of upper management. To gain their support, it is important to know how much forecast accuracy is worth to a company in terms of dollars and cents, which is at the moment missing, and that gives a great challenge to a forecaster. Even more challenging is to integrate the forecasting process with the supply chain management ...