We sell the market leading desktop SKU Forecasting Tool in Britain and Ireland. There are 3 versions of the product. 20,000 users world-wide including Toyota, Coca Cola, Amazon. MXI customers for Forecast PRO include Johnson & Johnson, Siemens Medical, Gowan Group, Irish Airports Authority (Aer RIANTA)
- Forecast PRO XE for 300 sku or less,
- Forecast Pro Unlimited to collaborate with colleagues handling 1000's of SKU.
- Forecast Pro TRAC. TRAC brings Forecast PRO into the realms of Sales and Operations level planning.
TIPS 1. Excel for forecasting.
Tempting, most people have Excel and a time series sheet of data that needs forecasting. However the Trend line feature in Excel is the least effective over 20 techniques for forecasting because of value it applies to older time series data ignoring the more valuable trending in recent data. Not ideal for managing the recession in consumer spending. Better to spend a little and use a proper exponential smoother.
2. Try Exponential Trending
Exponential smoothing recognises the value trend, extracts the surrounding noise in data can apply seasonality, trend and special events. Statistical results show exponential method to be one of the most reliable means of forecasting. Exponential smoother is also known to perform reasonably where there is limited historical data available.
3. Even Forecast/PRO Software can't deliver immediate results.
It takes time, trial and error is the best way forward in terms of planning. Once implemented take the time to learn your data and get to know the results. Be prepared to challenge the results. Consider separating data into 80 / 20 paretto analysis. Splitting some data into product/family (aggregating) levels and some at the SKU level can be effective.
4. Don't Automate too much.
Data needs checking all the time to improve relevancy. Even processes that are comfortably bedded need validation. Best practice and Industry leading performance can only be enhanced through regular monitoring.
Aer Rianta International (Irish Airports Authority) and SIEMENS have selected Demand Management solutions from MXI in recent months. Both organisations plan to grasp the challenge of forecasting customers demand Sales and Operations directly.
Freeing up Cash deployed in a business mounts a very major challenge for most organisations currently. MXI Forecast PRO forecasting technology gives the user vital extra level of intelligence when it comes to to Demand planning.
Siemens deployed Forecast PRO in their Medical Diagnostics business for Sales and Operations Planning in Manufacturing. ARI are using Forecast PRO more specifically to manage the very difficult condition pertaining to manage Airport Retailing, Promotions, Pricing and Merchantising.
Mark Richardson, Technical Practice Lead, MXI comments, "Forecastors, Logistics and Supply Chain Managers constantly struggle to intepret their data attempting to extropolate demand patterns, Forecast PRO hooks up to the data and does the forecasting piece with the attendent explanation brilliantly using its award winning forecasting technology".
"Our users are then free to manage their business, referring this new level of demand insight to Suppliers providing solid projections and numbers to them improving their Supply Chain. Internally Customer Service, Sales and Finance are much happier owing to higher level of accuracy."
Another spreadsheet bites the dust!!
MXI Forecast Pro TRAC is the perfect solution for a broad range of business forecasting needs including demand forecasting, team forecasting or forecasting and reporting in support of your organization’s S&OP process.
Businesses in the UK and Ireland particulary in retail and large scale distribution are challenged to manage cash and stock levels simultaneously against reduced demand and lack of credit. MXI Consulting has implemented demand management technology successfully in many organisations to meet this problem head-on.
Proven Track Record for Sales and Operations Forecasting.
TRAC is built on the Forecast Pro Unlimited and combines all of the forecasting, graphing, reporting and adjustment capabilities found in Forecast Pro analytic tools you need to execute a complete sector leading forecasting process.
TRAC new features :-
- Multiple Units of Measure
- "Shuffling" (on-the-fly hierarchy changes)
- Exception Reporting
- Accuracy Tracking
- Team Forecasting
Flexible forecasts viewing.
MXI TRAC allows you to view your data and forecasts in any units of measure you need. Drop-down menu switches among units of measure that are important to your business-such as Euros, units sold or pallets.
Rearrange your hierarchies.
With Forecast Pro TRAC's powerful "shuffling" capability, you can rearrange hierarchies on the fly with just a couple of clicks. Need to generate a report showing product-level forecasts broken out by customer and then create another report showing customer-level forecasts broken out by product? No problem!
Strenghen impact of your planning immediately.
Exception reporting automatically flags problem projections, items, article numbers, SKUs. The reports are flexible to reflect different performance metrics-such as forecast vs. history or whether a current forecast falls outside a pre-defined range-and give you a quick way to identify potential problem areas.