The Demand Planning and Forecasting solution provides unbiased and accurate demand pattern recognition abilities to reduce inventory and working capital. It also improves service levels, thereby reducing expediting costs and increasing revenue.

Because GAINS operates at enterprise scale, the Demand Planning and Forecasting methodology is a critical prerequisite to optimizing global inventory and maximizing return on assets (ROA). It provides an integral and integrated input to Inventory Optimization and other GAINS solutions, providing highly accurate and applicable baseline forecasts. By synchronizing planning across the organization and among enterprises as part of the SI&OP, it also improves supply chain response time.

GAINS Demand Planning and Forecasting drives increased revenue and reduced inventory by generating plausible and optimized demand plans derived from automated multi-modeling based on the following (as applicable):

• Item demand history
• Point of sale data
• Machine/fleet usage
• Leading indicators
• Sales Inventory and Operations Planning data

It also integrates multiple data inputs extrinsic to the enterprise, such as interest rates, business cycles, and competitor performance. These forecasts, and the error residual to them, are vetted to ensure effective integration with Inventory Optimization.

The GAINS Demand Planning solution provides algorithms, processes, and key performance indicators (KPIs) in several areas of this process. These include:

• Algorithms for pattern recognition based on observed, historical demand
• Algorithms for new item launches based on neural network analysis
• Algorithms applicable for maintenance applications determining parts needs, based on reliability and fleet usage/effort history and projections
• Processes and portals to manage detailed exceptions for expert review
• Processes and portals for incorporating unstructured, aggregate market knowledge into the plan for middle or top-down adjustment
• Algorithms to incorporate structured, aggregate leading indicator data into the demand planning process
• KPIs to review the efficacy of both GAINS “raw” plans as well as the value-add of refinements and adjustments.