Friday, June 14, 2019

The Upside Of Customer Demand Planning

By Angela Moore


When it comes to forecasting the interest in soon to be released products, there are several aspects. In one case, customer demand planning or CPD enables sales and marketing teams to develop forecasts based on planning as related to revenue, inventory, production and service processes.

CDP is also an integral and important aspect of the marketing process when it comes to managing different value chains. For, the first step in the process is to forecast the demand for a product. After which, it can be easier for managers to plan the deployment of resources based on such data.

The approach with CDP is much different than the typical top down approach. For, while there are some risks such as accuracy with numbers and low forecast models, the overall risk with regards to economic loss is much lower. In either case, it is important to review the numbers on an ongoing basis prior to delivery in order to keep up with product supply and demand. Otherwise, there can often be delivery delays or product shortages during the initial release period.

While there are software applications and programs which can assist with CDP, some are better than others. As such, it is important that managers read reviews and select the one which is the best as related to product type. Whereas, there are also retail models in which manufacturers and retailers work in partnership to eliminate the middle man approach. In doing so, both tend to cut costs over time.

The complexities and challenges when it comes to discovering various markets are numerous though vastly different from those which suppliers such distributors and manufacturers face. As a result, the technology related to demand management for the merchant is also different compared to the manufacturer or brand on the supply side. In one case, demographics often play a major role with regards to interest in products in different areas of the world.

CPD includes customer service, demand creation inventory, technology, sourcing, pricing optimization, travel optimization and channel management. For, if a company can not plan for the results of a product release, most will not be successful in the long run. Whereas, those whom can predict and prepare for the number of products to be released to the marketplace based on a demand forecast, then most often success will follow.

Like in other areas of business, new technologies are assisting in forecast and predictive analytics in this area. For, this type of planning is changing the way different companies perform and operate before becoming competitive in the industry. In addition, with the evolution of these solutions, companies are now discovering new methods for cutting cost and increasing efficiency.

One reason CPD can often assist companies is that productivity on any level is never an accident. To be successful, a company needs to forecast and plan ahead to assure that the inventory released to the public will meet the demand. As such, by planning ahead, some companies are now finding more success where many had failed in the past.




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