Project Description
New Forecasting, Demand Planning, and Replenishment System Selected to Drive Better Product and Inventory Results
Client Challenge
The client is a leading supplier of wholesale promotional apparel and products. The company’s small planning team manages over 6,500 styles of classic and trending products from over 80 brands, including apparel, drinkware, bags, journals, and technology. To forecast and replenish its diverse assortment, the wholesaler relies on an in-house-developed legacy system for its apparel business and a third-party package acquired through a past merger for non-apparel products.
The company realized its growth was hampered by a combination of multiple systems with poor forecast accuracy supplemented by Excel-driven, highly manual work. The wholesaler sought to implement a scalable enterprise-wide forecasting, demand planning, and replenishment system to improve overall demand expectations and inventory productivity.
Parker Avery Solution
Working closely with the client’s key stakeholders, Parker Avery ensured the forecasting, demand planning, and replenishment system selected would best fit the company’s needs. Key project activities included:
- Conducted current-state assessment interviews
- Defined future-state business requirements
- Managed a comprehensive RFP process to down-select three vendors for technical evaluation calls and onsite demonstrations
- Developed detailed ‘day-in-the-life’ demo scenarios aligned with the business requirements
- Facilitated and supported vendor demos
- Tailored a scoring tool to capture the selection team’s feedback and assess the results
- Led quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the systems to arrive at a recommendation
- Evaluated the client’s current system landscape and product hierarchy to determine dependency areas for remediation before system implementation
- Built an implementation roadmap to ensure a successful system rollout
- Tailored an organizational change and communication plan, including an employee reward and recognition program
Results
After thoroughly evaluating leading systems and the new forecasting, demand planning, and replenishment system selected, the client expects to mature its planning capabilities dramatically.
With science-based forecasting, demand management, and inventory segmentation planning capabilities, the client expects to:
- Optimize in-stock positions and liquidation of obsolete products
- Launch more reliable new product introductions
- Enhance supplier collaboration and partnering through consistent and improved forecasting and planning
Let’s ensure your systems support your strategic capabilities.
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