For many manufacturers today, model-based forecasts are no longer relevant due to ongoing global disruption. Instead of relying on these traditional models, manufacturers can look to sales teams to play a critical role in developing a clear forecast picture that is based on actual customer needs.
Even in usual circumstances, the sophisticated statistical forecasts generated by demand planners within
manufacturing organizations often miss the mark. Over time, these inaccurate forecasts can lead to unacceptable inventory buildup or an increasing time lag between customer orders and fulfillment.
More than ever, visibility into a single source of truth and close collaboration between teams and across the ecosystem are critical for manufacturers. However, today, this is easier said than done. Sales teams typically do not have what they need to collaborate with agility and transparency across the business, and this lack of visibility makes demand planning difficult, while also limiting business agility.
The best way to develop forecasts that accurately represent product demand is by including perspectives from salespersons into forecasts generated by operations groups. Salespersons are often closer to customers than anyone else within their organization, and they are usually aware of any impending change in customer demand, well before anyone in the operations group realizes this is a possibility…..
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