Is Communication More Important Than Accuracy in Demand Planning?

Demand Planning performance is driven by metrics. MAPE and bias provide a compass to evaluate performance, and make necessary changes to the forecast. It is for this reason that most Demand Planning teams put a signifi cant amount of emphasis on delivering improvements against these objectives, and why industry benchmarking reports focus in this area. In this article, I explore whether metrics alone can truly drive the business results that most executive leaders are looking for. I share some experience that highlights the importance of communicating the context surrounds a forecast. It is highly plausible that synergizing performance metrics with the right communication strategy creates a formula that unlocks enhanced supply chain results. Copyright © 2014 Journal of Business Forecasting | All Rights Reserved | Fall 2014 7 Supply Chain Risk Management An Emerging Discipline Authors/Affiliations Gregory L. Schlegel, LeHigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA Robert J. Trent, Lehigh University 621 Taylor Street Bethlehem, PA 18015 USA This book presents a risk management framework that will help readers position and conceptualize the topic of supply chain risk management. With this ...