Forecast Using Leading Indicators – Regression Analysis:

The Smart Forecaster

Pursuing best practices in demand planning,

forecasting and inventory optimization

Improve Forecast Accuracy, Eliminate Excess Inventory, & Maximize Service Levels

In this video tutorial Dr. Thomas Willemain, co–Founder and SVP Research at Smart Software, presents Regression Analysis, a specialized statistical modeling technique to identify and harness leading indicators to achieve more accurate forecasts. Regression analysis is a statistical procedure to estimate the relationship between a response variable and one or more predictor variables. Housing starts, for example, might be a good leading indicator of vinyl siding demand. Tom explains how and when to use regression analysis and works through a practical example.

Forecasting Techniques for a more profitable business

Goldilocks Inventory Levels

You may remember the story of Goldilocks from your long-ago youth. Sometimes the porridge was too hot, sometimes it was too cold, but just once it was just right. Now that we are adults, we can translate that fairy tale into a professional principle for inventory planning: There can be too little or too much inventory, and there is some Goldilocks level that is “just right.” This blog is about finding that sweet spot.

Call an Audible to Proactively Counter Supply Chain Noise

You know the situation: You work out the best way to manage each inventory item by computing the proper reorder points and replenishment targets, then average demand increases or decreases, or demand volatility changes, or suppliers’ lead times change, or your own costs change.

An Example of Simulation-Based Multiechelon Inventory Optimization

Managing the inventory across multiple facilities arrayed in multiple echelons can be a huge challenge for any company. The complexity arises from the interactions among the echelons, with demands at the lower levels bubbling up and any shortages at the higher levels cascading down.

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Supply and Demand Chain Executive: Optimizing Parts Management at BC Transit.

Belmont, Mass., May 14, 2020 – Smart Software, Inc., provider of industry-leading demand forecasting, planning, and inventory optimization solutions, today announced that Supply and Demand Chain Executive 2020 Online Magazine features an article about inventory optimization at BC Transit, entitled “Optimizing Parts Management at BC Transit.” Eric Nelson, Director for Supply Services at BC Transit explains how Smart IP&O has helped ensure that they have the right part in the right place at the right time to equip their entire service network with 35 repair locations. “Smart IP&O has enabled us to utilize service level as a driving KPI,” states Nelson, “essentially risk adjusting our inventory to address the criticality of not running out, and to deal with the thorny challenges of seasonal and intermittent demand. It is helping us keep our buses on the road, so we can be the best transportation solution for our partners across British Columbia.”

To read the entire article and to learn more about Optimizing Parts Planning please visit https://www.sdcexec.com/warehousing/article/21130834/optimizing-parts-management-at-bc-transit

About Smart Software, Inc.
Founded in 1981, Smart Software, Inc. is a leader in providing businesses with enterprise-wide demand forecasting, planning and inventory optimization solutions. Smart Software’s demand forecasting and inventory optimization solutions have helped thousands of users worldwide, including customers at mid-market enterprises and Fortune 500 companies, such as Otis Elevator, Hitachi, Disney, FedEx, MARS, and The Home Depot. Smart Inventory Planning & Optimization gives demand planners the tools to handle sales seasonality, promotions, new and aging products, multi-dimensional hierarchies, and intermittently demanded service parts and capital goods items. It also provides inventory managers with accurate estimates of the optimal inventory and safety stock required to meet future orders and achieve desired service levels. Smart Software is headquartered in Belmont, Massachusetts and can be found on the World Wide Web at www.smartcorp.com.

For more information, please contact Smart Software, Inc., Four Hill Road, Belmont, MA 02478.
Phone: 1-800-SMART-99 (800-762-7899); FAX: 1-617-489-2748; E-mail: info@smartcorp.com

“Are you a Victim of your Forecast Models” by Smart Software Co-Founder Profiled in 53rd issue of Foresight

Belmont, Mass., March 28, 2019 – Smart Software, Inc., provider of industry-leading demand forecasting, planning, and inventory optimization solutions, today announced that the Spring 2019 issue of Foresight Magazine features Dr. Thomas Willemain’s article “Are you a Victim of your Forecast Models.” Len Tashman, Editor of Foresight states: “Here Tom Willemain, a longtime contributor to the journal, ponders why modeling and optimization algorithms haven’t displaced “gut instinct” in supply-chain forecasting as much as one would expect, given their penetration in kindred fields such as finance. It’s not that we can always trust models —far from it—but, as Tom puts it, What makes gut instinct dangerous is that it is so amorphous. Everyone who works a long time in a job develops instincts, but longevity is not the same as wisdom. It is possible to learn all the wrong lessons. Tom then provides a capsule summary of the advantages of modeling, but with the caveat that model error is a constant risk that requires monitoring and careful checking of its assumptions.

To read the entire article and to learn more about Foresight please visit https://foresight.forecasters.org/