We introduce “Gen2”, our next generation of probabilistic modeling technology

Gen2 substantially expands the capabilities of Gen1

Gen2 harnesses daily demand and substantially advances Gen1’s probabilistic forecasting methods. Now probabilistic forecasting can be applied to all items, not just intermittent ones. Forecasts now account for daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly trends, seasonality, and cyclical patterns. The old question of “how many forecasting methods do you use” will be simply answered as “one” for customers leveraging Gen2. While not running a tournament, you are generating a forecast based on probability distributions of each future period, enabling a much more accurate estimate of the mean demand and a more realistic assessment of forecast uncertainty since there are no assumptions about “bell-shaped curves.”

Gen2 Technology Inventory and demand planning

Smart IP&O Gen2 exploits daily data

A4 Increase Revenue Demand Software calendar

Gen2 Forecasting handles more complex seasonality

Gen2 is designed to detect and exploit multiple levels of seasonality. The default configuration supports two levels of seasonality and can be expanded to include additional levels of seasonality.

Gen2 Inventory Optimization outputs more key performance indicators

Gen1 output a number of KPI’s, including Fill Rate, Service Level, Average Operating Cost and Inventory Investment. Gen2 extends the list to include Item Availability and Design Feasibility.

Machine Learning Regime change prediction forecasting software

Gen2 uses built-in machine learning algorithms

Gen2 has built-in machine learning algorithms for “regime change detection” that can, optionally, automatically detect significant changes in the character of an item’s demand and exclude data from all but the current regime.

Gen2 is built as a cloud-native platform

A single, secure, and scalable native cloud platform with multiple end user Apps that helps you predict accurately, protect against uncertainty, and plan efficiently.

Gen2 SIO analyzes more inventory policies that mirror real-life ordering processes

Demand variability is not the only source of difficulty in inventory management: supply variability also plays an important role. Gen2 accounts for randomness in replenishment lead times.

A4 Increase Revenue Demand Software forecast

Gen2 Forecasting provides better estimates of forecast uncertainty

Gen2 does better by basing all its forecasts and forecast uncertainty calculations on “bootstrapping” methods that deal with the complications of seasonality and trend.

The Smart Solution

One of the most significant challenges now facing demand forecasters is the increasing pace of business. In the past, forecasting processes ran at a monthly tempo, and rare was the company that even accelerated to a weekly tempo. SDP Gen1 was fed by Smart Data Pipeline, which took the most microscopic data -transactions such as individual orders and shipments- and aggregated them to daily totals. However, the classical time series forecasting algorithms in Gen1 for non-intermittent demand were best suited to working at a higher level of aggregation, so Gen1 was sufficient for the monthly or maybe weekly processes of our customers. The specialized algorithm in Gen1 for forecasting intermittent demand was an exception since it could work at any level of disaggregation. However, customers were not inclined to forecast some items daily and others monthly, so most customers defaulted to monthly data.

Now, though, the speed of business has combined with SKU proliferation to thin out demand streams, giving more items’ demand an intermittent character. As a result, Gen2 does all its calculations on daily data. If customers choose to operate at a slower tempo, daily results can easily be aggregated to weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual levels. It is easy to aggregate forecasts.

The Benefits

Companies using our powerful planning solutions typically reduce standing inventory by 20% in the first year, increase parts availability 10-20%, and reduce the need for and associated costs of emergency transshipment to close gaps in their supply chain. Repair and service parts inventories are truly optimized, leading to more efficient operations, improvements in customer service, and significantly less cash tied up in inventory.

White Paper: Smart Software Gen2

In this white paper, we introduce “Gen2”, our next generation of probabilistic modeling technology that powers the Smart IP&O Platform. We recount the evolution of Smart Software’s forecasting methods and we detail how Gen2 substantially expands the capabilities that have made Gen1 so useful to so many companies. Finally, we will also give a high-level view of the probability math behind Gen2 .

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A Single Platform for Inventory Planning & Optimization

Ipad with business data of improved Demand & Inventory Planning 2

Gen2 Smart IP&O Application Suite

Gen2 substantially expands the capabilities of Gen1. Smart IP&O is an integrated set of native web applications that provides a single, easy to use, scalable, environment with field proven inventory and forecast modeling that optimizes inventory stocking policy and improves forecast accuracy. Gen2 harnesses daily demand and substantially advances Gen1’s probabilistic forecasting methods.

You’ll move planning from spreadsheet based functional silos to a collaborative platform enabling executives to shape policy while empowering inventory planners to make it so .