The Value of Demand Forecasting for Manufacturing Operations

There are several benefits associated with demand forecasting in the manufacturing industry. Accurate demand forecasts allow businesses to avoid stock outs, enabling them to meet customer demand, and minimize lost sales due to unavailability. Reliable forecasting enables manufacturers to plan their production runs accordingly. This reduces lead times and ensures that kitted items or finished goods are ready and on time for shipment. The process also reduces inventory costs, minimizes waste, and overstocking issues by helping manufacturers to purchase raw materials only when necessary.

To forecast demand, manufacturers typically use a combination of demand data from past periods, current sales trends, and demand forecasts from external sources. Historical demand data is useful for seeing patterns in demand over time and helps predict future demand. Current sales trends provide insight into seasonal demand changes or sudden spikes or dips due to market changes. Finally, demand forecasts from other sources such as industry surveys or channel customers provide additional information that can be used to inform demand decisions.

Each method of demand forecasting has its own benefits and drawbacks. Historical data provides reliable insights into past demand but is not always applicable to present or future markets due to changing customer needs and preferences. Current sales trends can indicate short-term demand changes but are often unreliable for predicting future demand due to their volatile nature. Finally, demand forecasts from external sources may be more reliable but require additional investment of time and resources to obtain.

Capitalizing on all this data and turning it into insights for forecasting purposes can become a sprawling operation that takes more time than many firms would like. Many companies have turned to software to manage the forecasting process. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Material Requirements Planning (MRP) software, like Aligni, have varying degrees of forecasting capabilities already built in. These software systems manage a lot of the data and functions used for demand forecasting and are designed to connect the process with other inventory management activities. This connectivity provides the ability to not only streamline forecasting but connect the forecasts to the business systems that use them.

Ultimately, demand estimation for manufacturing operations is an important task that should not be overlooked in order to ensure a successful business. Manufacturers must carefully assess their demand forecasting needs in order to ensure inventory is managed effectively and costs are kept low. Accurate demand forecasting helps manufacturers maximize profits by ensuring production runs meet customer demand without overstocking or stocking too little. In addition, demand forecasting enables manufacturers to better manage inventory levels, reduce lead times, and ensure products are shipped on time for customers. 

Time to get proactive on inventory management? Ready to move past the demand forecasting spreadsheet?  It’s time to sign up for Aligni!