Demand Planning

Don’t Guess. Foresee and Execute. Resilience begins with clarity of all the moving parts.

Forecasting that manages by exceptions and increases productivity.

Demand planning drives improved forecast accuracy by delivering the right blend of science and decision-making expertise in a simple, easy to use solution.

Inventory represents 60-80% of working capital and inventory dollars. It’s time to manage that asset with proven science – not guesses and safety stock. Intelligent demand planning accurately redefines inventory requirements through automation, intuitive analytics, and pattern recognition – despite volatility – creating accurate demand forecasts efficiently and profitably.

Automation that drives productivity.

Manage by exception to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Forecast accuracy is critical and time consuming. Automation allows you to manage by exception through pattern recognition to identify outliers and anomalies caused by seasonality, intermittent items, promotions, investment buys, competitive threats and more. Automating the assessment of each unique business dynamics creates an optimal forecast in a daily, automated inventory plan for peak service levels, sales revenue, margins and profits.

We help companies achieve optimized inventory levels to pinpoint the fine line between “stocking up” and “stocking out”.

Better qualitative forecasting ahead.

AI, Machine Learning and Modeling Data Enrichment

Put your data to work for you with AI, machine learning and data modeling doing the heavy lifting so you can focus on what’s essential in your business, your customers. With rich data science built into the demand planning solution, you can analyze and understand the trends to take advantage of the best time to buy that will have the greatest impact on your bottom line as well as your customer’s satisfaction.

Precision and visibility achieved.

Analyze trends for success.

Demand planning and forecasting are vital when it comes to optimizing inventory to meet the business drivers for success. Product lifecycle management, promotions, events and seasonality are just a few trends where precision and visibility can make or break a business. Whether it is a new product introduction, product obsolescence or supersession; support for lost sales; or just understanding the causality of buying behaviors – accurate forecasting requires demand planning is done right.

Validate decisions with rich dashboard insights.

Analytics and BI for better benchmarking.

Rich Analytics and BI/Benchmarking dashboards deliver actionable insights at your fingertips. Unified, SaaS capabilities integrated with exception-driven dashboards and BI tools validate your decisions and uncover opportunities to reduce costs and grow sales and margin for hundreds of thousands of products, across multiple channels and locations.

Fully Configurable, Customized In The Cloud For You

The Blue Ridge Global enterprise suite extends value by design and your backed by our LifeLine Consultants. The platform with everything you need to bypass IT hurdles and expose opportunities with the industry-fastest time to value in Supply Chain Planning software.

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Planning FAQs:

What is required for “what-if” simulations and does end-to-end really matter?

End-to-end simulation planning and optimization highlights the importance of how one decision can impact the performance of many factors and trade-offs to find the proper balance in achieving the business goals.

What resource commitments do I need for Blue Ridge solutions to be successful?

Blue Ridge brings to you LifeLine support, which encompasses in initial implementation, ongoing identification of continuous improvement opportunities, and industry benchmarks for comparison purposes. For successful implementation we suggest management commitment, IT, Planning, Procurement, Finance and Logistics sponsorship on as-needed basis, based on the successes of our clients.

How quickly can I see a ROI from Blue Ridge?

Our clients are typically up and running in a matter of weeks with immediate value and a positive ROI in the first 90 days of implementation.

At what level of the hierarchy does the system plan?

The Blue Ridge supply chain management solution typically utilizes planning hierarchies at product, location, and customer segmentation level.

What inputs does the solution need to plan more effectively?

To plan effectively, Blue Ridge requires inputs on customer orders, existing inventory levels, safety stock, and re-order point criteria for items, open purchase orders, past order and item demand history, a future demand forecast, any promotional plans you may have.

How often and how frequently do other companies you work with forecast?

The Blue Ridge supply chain management solution supports 15 different planning time periods, which are configurable. The solution provides three separate planning views for Sales Planning, Finance Planning and Operational Consensus.

How does the Blue Ridge supply chain management solution improve forecast measurements?

Forecast accuracy is improved and measured using various advanced statistical modeling, complemented by profiling and attribute forecasting. The improvements are recognized in improved sales, margins and working capital savings.

What actionable advice does the system provide for exceptions, and how are they communicated?

Suggested transfer, replenishment and work orders are recommended by the system as actionable items. Exception processing is handled through alerts, which can be communicated to inside and outside the organization in a collaborative manner for suppliers and customers to resolve discrepancies.

How does the solution integrate with my ERP for inputs and execution?

The solution utilizes ERP inputs on Item Master, Source of supply, Demand, Open Orders, Events, Stock Status, Kits, Product and Distribution Structures and any Linked Items. The output is recommended replenishment orders, transfer orders, work orders, and updated safety stocks and re-order points across a multi-tier distribution network.

Featured Resources and Insights

Feel free to explore our insights in supply chain management and check back often as new content is added regularly.

May 22, 2023 in Articles, Blogs

Types and Models of Inventory Forecasting

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April 10, 2023 in Articles, Blogs

Blue Ridge ‘Facilitates’ Supply Chain Success Again

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April 3, 2023 in Articles, Blogs

Blue Ridge Tops the Ranks in G2’s Best Software Awards for 2023

Blue Ridge Tops the Ranks in G2’s Best Software Awards for 2023! G2 recently announced the Best Software Awards for 2023, and this year, Blue Ridge is honored to have…

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