June 2010-UK Retail rise again. Here are 2 Tips to take advantage Sales are rising in different retail sectors except food, In the UK sales forecasting software Forecast PRO is helping sales forecastors drive British economic growth whilst reducing on hand stock and finance costs.
For June the figures were UK retail sales rose 1.2% in comparison to June ‘09, when sales had picked up 1.4%. This June was slightly less hot, but sunny for most of the month. On a total basis, sales were up 3.4% against a 3.2% increase in June 2009.
As budgeting and forecast experts we are often asked what sales forecasting software to select to improve forecasting accuracy.
These business intelligence improvements reduce the cost of the budgeting and forecasting cycle. Any improvement here flows into in the Supply Chain, reducing logistics, packaging, warehousing, marketing and finance costs just for starters.
Seasonality and Trending is usually a big issue for forecasting and planning as it plays a very big role Supply Chain planning. The large ERP systems just have enough insight or flexibility to deliver the forecasting accuracy required. We constantly come across companies who are working with 40 - 60% forecasting accuracy where they need 70% plus accuracy at least.
Remember Statistics from the school days well could save your bacon now. Using Statistics on your sales histories provides valuable insights into your forecasting requirements. BIG ERP tends to give a simple average for the last 3 months Stock, Sales or Purchasing figures and projects forward on that basis. No Science, no business knowledge, no intuition, no exponential smoothing, just cut and paste. A waste of money. Now Stats just got a bit more interesting.
TIP – Get 2 years of data (SKU, Category, Product, Regional level) and find the trend in that. You can use Statistical methodologies to select the most appropriate sales forecasting methodology to forecast sales, tax revenue, passenger numbers. Track the impact of weather and season etc.
TIP – Avoid the hassle and expense of the above learning invest in sale forecasting software. Send us your data for forecasting
For example we use Forecast PRO sales forecasting software exponential smoothing to detect seasonal changes in data by ignoring the irrelevant fluctuations irrelevant. Forecast PRO exponential smoothing (unlike moving averages smoothing) older data is given progressively-less relative weight (importance) whereas newer data is given progressively-greater weight.
Also called averaging, it is employed in making short-term forecasts. Our Excel challenge works with organisation everyday to demonstrate how we can speed up forecasting, sales and operations planning, demand management. Check out the excel challenge for yourself to see how you can start moving in the right direction.
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In the Excel versus Business Intelligence battle, there is only one winner currently. It's not a fair battle by any means however the Business intelligence, financial modelling Industry lags miles behind in second place.
Vendors and enthuasists of business intelligence/ financial modelling, demand management software have long argued that user’s preference / attachment to spreadsheets is one of the biggest preventatives to real Business Intelligence. Users maintain that spreadsheets provide all the BI capability they need.
If Vendors and supporters BI software were honest with themselves they would agree that spreadsheets are not only a data source for BI applications, but often the preferred front-end access to BI application or ERP solution data.
Making things more interesting is PowerPivot in the latest edition of Excel 2010 with a lot of BI functionality. This raises the question of whether this will mean even fewer people will see a need for dedicated BI software or help drive interest in it.
The financial Modelling and business intelligence software which we sell and implement is much more proficient, cost effective and powerful. And we are willing to be put our believes to the test against the darkness hegemony (a well known company from Seatlle, not Boeing). Thats why at MXI we offer the Excel Challenge.
Whatever happens, the tension between spreadsheet users and BI supporters will increase over the next few months as more IT organizations become familiar with Excel 2010. But in the end, it’s more likely that PowerPivot will become an integral component of just about any total BI solution.
In UK / Ireland MXI implement and develop business intelligence solutions based around SQL Server, Quantrix, Forecast PRO and Excel. Free Forecast PRO Trial
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Is this familiar? You work in a large organisation with lots and lots of data. But every time IT or Finance are requested to provide some information it takes up to two weeks to get it back by which time you are onto the next challenge. There is no serious analysis and forecasting, business planning is suffering, profit opportunities are left begging to be taken yet no action, why? All because nobody could answer the question "what if we did this", "changed this", "allocated more funds to this" or "increased headcount in this department" etc. There is no shortage of data in the business, no shortage of IT power or resources. You need to clearly see the business cost/profit drivers, prepare scenarios and model them so you can test them and develop working budgets and forecasts.
We work with client's everyday providing them with this first class business intelligence which helps them and their business to identify business profit or cost drivers. Building financial models or business model that allow these organisations to plan better for a fraction of the cost and time it takes other companies or Government Departments using spreadsheets. We help customers to identify the right financial and budgeting software, business modelling software, business intelligence software to do this. Auditors, Regulators, Tax Authorities are not too keen on spreadsheets the known error levels and business risk.
Why not take the MXI Excel challenge? We will work with you to develop a trial model to demonstrate the value to your organisation in this approach, better business analysis, modelling and forecasting for your business with much greater accuracy, best and worst case scenario testing. After all does not business need every help it can in today's environment. And the best way to stay one step ahead is to stay informed, making the right decisions. Read more here: Excel Challenge
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Forecast Pro from MXI UK and Ireland is probably the most installed sales forecasting software in the world. Over 50,000 copies sold and the latest version Forecast Pro TRAC improves forecast accuracy, reducing costs in your supply chain. Sales and Operation planning at its best and for a fraction of the cost of some of the alternatives.
We are always asked why bother changing from Excel to Forecast Pro, it's okay isn't it. Yes maybe 3 years ago when the economy was booming worldwide. But now you need to carry way less stock and still meet your customer service levels. Suddenly Excel is missing the subtleties of trending. Forecast Pro reads these trends and captures them going forward, just what the Doctor ordered.
One the forecasting methodologies in Forecast Pro is Exponential Smoothing. It's an efficient, practical and effective means to forecasting time series data such as stock levels, footfall, passengers numbers, FMCG and SKU sales histories. We can automate it for batch processing, and also applied to relatively short time series and adapted to different patterns of trend and seasonality. Forecast Pro is award winning in most competitions and shows it to be more reliable than other more complicated methods of extrapolation. Perhaps its strongest attribute is its logical and tangible basis. In exponential smoothing, you estimate the current Level of your time series and then adjust it for Trends, Seasonality, and Special Events.
So next time you need to project Bank Holidays, Christmas, Summer holidays with real trending and produce savings to your organisation, think Forecast Pro. Stop spreadsheets sabotaging your business. Move to Forecast Pro from MXI UK.
The best way to see Forecast Pro is action is with your own data. Recently we launched a promotion where companies could sample Forecast Pro with their own data you find out more here: Forecast Pro
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MXI specialists in the UK/Ireland sales budget modelling software. MXI advises organisations on forecasting, financial and sales modelling to plan and monitor corporate business performance. MXI advises on the intricate process of compiling plans and budgets. Thats why MXI should your first call for any sales budget modelling in the UK.
At MXI we offer tailored training to financial and non-financial staff to support any financial or sales modelling requirements that you might have.
Beneath are listed some of the major issues that MXI clients have found in building a UK sales budget, 5 year forecast, projected cash flows for the UK/Ireland corporate sector.
- Period for modelling 1 year, 2 years, 5 years. The norm is 5 years.
- Weekly monthly quarterly financial periods
- Identify key business drivers in business (This changes constantly)
- Product, service offerings, 10, 20 Product Groups
- Income flow from Sales, Standard debtor days patterns (Impacts Cash Flow, profitability, rolling forecasts)
- Target Market penetration, unit sales volume, seasonality product by region by month
- Customer churn rates (subscription-or licence products & services)
- Revenue calculation parameters - sale prices by product by region by year, flat fees Vs user-based fees, etc (There will be huge variations within the revenue calculation module, depending on type of business, product characteristics, etc.)
- Revenue share % where distribution is via business partner.
- Recurring revenue models where % based maintenance fees apply - e.g. second and later year fees for software products/services
- Additional revenue streams - e.g. after-sales service offerings, product upgrade options, etc
- Direct costs - % of turnover or fixed value by product by region by year
- Other % based expenses
- One-off expenses by month Salaries, Consultant fees, personnel budget
- Salaries, months of commencement and yearly salary review levels
- Other expenses, months of commencement and yearly increase or reductions.
At MXI we understand the challenges of accurate forecasting thats why we are offering a 30 day trial of our budget and forecasting as used by JP Morgan, Bank of America, Caterpillar and KRAFT-Cadbury. Request Here: QUANTRIX TRIAL
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Forecast pro in the UK is helping British companies to plan and forecast international sales and purchasing. Forecast PRO is used 2000 plus companies throughout the UK. Users include UK Treasury, BP, Coca Cola UK, Shell UK.
DOWNLOAD Forecast PRO TRIAL NOW:
Start using Forecast PRO in the UK, download Forecast PRO from the mxisoft.co.uk website. Prospective buyers can check UK/Ireland pricing on our pricing page.
Forecast Pro is easy to use as it allows users, companies, organisations without any knowledge of statistics to benefit from statistical forecasting. All you need is series data (sales data, purchasing history, incidence of cancer cases) in a spreadsheet. Forecast PRO connects for example to your UK/London Sales data or mortgage defaults in Scotland/Wales and does the maths and the statistics for you.
Contact me I need to know more about Forecast PRO
That's why Mark Smith, UK Treasury Financial Analyst, says "Forecast Pro is an invaluable and essential part of the tool set we use to predict UK regional Tax returns for the Chancellor". Caterpillar UK uses Forecast PRO to predict the demand for high value spare parts.
500 Forecast Pro in UK/Ireland Food sector can't be wrong, managing promotions, special offers, supply chain pressures, demand management and planning, sales operations & planning issues. Forecast Pro is helping the British food Industry work profitably with the ferocious supermarkets
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QUANTRIX is used globally in 50 different countries by Financial Companies. Why?
Six of the top ten global investment banks and many leading commercial banks, insurance companies, hedge funds, property investment funds and use Quantrix to plan growth and develop their growth and service their customers. The power of true multi dimensional planning.
Financial Modelling or Modeling depending on your spelling preference can be frustrating using the traditional means. A 2 dimensional worksheet manually maintained developed over years with several different and weighted down with errors just does not meet the needs of now. Trillions of Dollars blown up, Regulators giving up on light touch and demanding visibility.
FREE IFSC Quantrix presentation March 11th 0930 Jury's Inn
Financial Analysts, Financial Controllers, IT Managers, CEO and Managing Directors need modelling accuracy. Financial Models with strong "what if analysis" capabilities. Models need to be complex, robust and enjoy real scalability.
Financial planning teams need to see Cash flows, Balance Sheets, Risk Models, need to link immediately to existing IT systems SAP, ORACLE. Create interactive presentations and dashboards modelling the financial consequences in real time of your business choices.
► MXI Modelling Platform Delivers Financial Services Success
QUANTRIX meets the needs of the Financial Services Professional head on. Quantrix Modeller's multi-dimensional modelling, analytics, business intelligence and dashboard features allow business users to develop stand-alone and integrated models to understand business conditions and examine downstream impact
► An Extension of Your Team
Whether it is assisting a hedge fund, equities trading, rick analysis with a portfolio model or an investment bank with a financial risk mode. MXI Professional Services brings the expertise, resources, and "best practices" methodologies to help meet project deadlines and ensure business success.
That's why we are presenting in IFSC Jury's Inn on March 11th
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There is a low cost cost-effective solution to replace desktop spreadsheets. It's QUANTRIX a desktop solution for the real world MXI Software that helps clients to implement the multi dimensional Quantrix Modeller. It can replace most or all (depending on how it's used) of the difficulties that organisations face in budgeting, forecasting, sales & operations planning as part of a repetitive collaborative business process.
This is particularly important in planning, budgeting, forecasting and modelling. The business intelligence integrator, DataPush helps companies to automatically push data from Quantrix models to databases or business applications. DATA Push feature is useful when people want to do integrated business planning, cash flow, scenario testing and "what if".
This speed of analytic capacity is vital to city's key financial thinkers in planning the way out of the current financial morass. That's why we are running a seminar in Dublins IFSC on March 11th to demonstrate this innovative planning advantage.
Priority QUANTRIX Registration: March 11th IFSC Jurys Inn
Research on this topic shows that corporations engage in multiple, parallel planning activities: there are sales plans, operations and demand plans, transportation plans, marketing plans etc. Most don't formally integrate the results of these plans. The closest thing to an integrated plan is the annual budget and the periodic updates. However, there are at least two important issues that prevent spreadsheet-based budgets from being a useful integrated business plans. First, since budgets are mainly concerned with money, much of the non-financial operating detail is omitted - limiting the budget's usefulness in supporting non-financial planning. Quantrix Modeller enables companies to keep track of "things" (headcount by grade, units of bar stock, minutes of machine time, consulting hours and so on) as they construct their models and share this data.
The problem with rolling up and consolidating data from multiple sources in desktop worksheets is that the connection is indirect and not necessarily co ordinated. DataPush addresses this. When changes occur that require an update, DataPush will send out updates of specific pieces of a plan out to every other planning unit (such as a department, division, business unit, etc.). Formally linking the models ensures that accurate, synchronized and up-to-date information is used by all parts of the business. The data also can be pushed into ERP systems, databases or other information sources that can use this data to prepare reports or drive other analyses.
Quantrix launched DATABAV for BI Business intelligence in 2009. MXI research indicates this is a strong business intelligence tool at a new price point level with excellent query, analysis and visualization capabilities to strenghten the core Quantrix Modeller.
This the next move for companies seeking to reduce cost in this area, increase output, put new performance monitoring metrics in place. Forecasting, Modelling, planning, business intelligence, sales & operations planning, budgeting cost can be greatly reduced for planning teams. As well as providing methods for rapid query and analysis with neat navigation and visualization.
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Contact MXI Software
The ECB and Bank of England are keeping rates low, business confidence sags, spending over Christmas lagged seriously not a even a drink could cheer us up we didn't buy any. It's likely that conditions economically are going to remain challenging that delightful phase that slipped into our conscience a decade or two ago.
You can't cut buck the market, you have to cut costs and give the public what it wants when it's ready. And better forecasting is the key.
If we saw a man digging a hole on the road using a beach bucket and spade we would all say he needs a Jackhammer! So why do so many use Spreads***ts for business planning, time series forecasting, modelling, sku sales forecast, inventory predictions, production management, MRP purchasing decisions, trending, seasonality and sales promotions.
Bob the Builder has all gear he needs so why don't you. If you are responsible for managing stock, purchasing, sales projections, demand management, demand planning, forecasting times to stop using s****she**s.
Sales and Operations planning support organisations to deploy resources efficiently and most importantly cash. No point having the spare part in Stockport when it's needed in Shanghai or Spokane in the morning. If it's going to be hot holiday week end, we need lots of Beer, Ice Cream, lettuce, charcoal, gas, beach gear. No good telling the boss Tuesday stock will be in Wednesday.
Forecast Pro is the most successful computer forecasting application ever written. 50,000 licenses sold users such as IBM, Diageo, Ford, BMW, Sony, and hundreds of smaller companies. It does the exponential smoothing, holt winters, extrapolations, using an expert selector. It does the projections you handle business.
We at MXI understand accurate forecasting thats why we give you the chance of a 30 FREE trial. Request your download.
Forecast PRO compared to Spread*****s. Some Facts
- Faster & Accurate first time.
- There is only one methodology in a spre******t, Trendline and it is the least reliable.
- Forecast PRO has 20 and an expert selector.
- 3 time PC Magazine Editors Choice and multiple Insead awards for accuracy
Use MXI Forecast Pro Supply Chain technology. Forecast Pro will improve your sales & operations planning, demand planning, sales forecasting. Users include Johnson & Johnson, Siemens, SIEMENS, UK Treasury, Caterpillar, Irish Airports Authority.
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Nothing like an old fashioned gag to highlight a a truism and it's certainly true to say too many serious business decisions are made with the aid of spreadsheets. Leading British magazine The Economist implicates spreadsheets for the part they played in the international credit crisis.
In talking with prospective customers for our budgeting, modelling, forecasting and analytics products, people say well "We have been using spreadsheets for years, the work is done and the spreadsheets were free with the PC, it would be a waste of money to revisit this ." Or words to this effect.
Understandably they feel this way as there has been a lot of time invested in the spreadsheets.
Mistakes - There is lots of evidence that Spreadsheet are not fit for purpose. Errors in formula's, links to worksheets and too much cut and paste. Many financial market observers (Investors, commentators, Pension Funds) are very surprised to learn that the Markets were using spreadsheets to analyse, control and price risk.
Communication - Spreadsheets are essentially personal yet many organisations are sharing Spreadsheets. The possibility of error grows exponentially as the number of users climbs. Spreadsheets are not easily understood or well documented. It's well known that users force data, change formulas to get things done. And then forget (deliberately or otherwise) to advise these changes properly to others. Some organisations go through very expensive and time consuming spreadsheet re engineering when users leave organisations.
X & Y - Spreadsheets have 2 dimensions only. Above and Across that's it. One line of data down the side and across the top that's all. Most people want to see far more information than that. For example, sales by product, region, customer, year and month. That's very limiting and prevents productive number crunching.
Cost - It is very surprising but most companies have not costed the time spent generating, using, fixing, tracing errors in spreadsheets. In most cases it will far exceed the cost of an investment in a system. Why should using a spreadsheet be exempt from normal performance metrics. If there were used for manufacturing widgets they would have gone long ago!
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