Smart Software VP of Research to Present at Business Analytics Conference, INFORMS 2022
Dr. Tom Willemain to lead INFORMS session “Dominating The Inventory Battlefield: Fighting Randomness With Randomness.”
Belmont, Mass., March 2022 – Smart Software, Inc., provider of industry-leading demand forecasting, planning, and inventory optimization solutions, today announced that Tom Willemain, Vice President for Research, will present at the INFORMS Business Analytics Conference, April 3-5, 2022, in Houston, TX.
Dr. Willemain will present a session on how next-generation analytics arms supply chain leaders in manufacturing, distribution, and MRO with tools to fight against randomness in demand and supply. During his session he will detail the following technologies:
(1) Regime change filtering to maintain data relevance against sudden shifts in the operating environment.
(2) Bootstrapping methods to generate large numbers of realistic demand and lead time scenarios to fuel models.
(3) Discrete event simulations to process the input scenarios and expose the links between management actions and key performance indicators.
(4) Stochastic optimization based on simulation experiments to tune each item for best results.
Without the analytics, inventory owners have two choices: sticking with rigid operating policies usually based on outdated and invalid rules of thumb or resorting to subjective, gut-feel guesswork that may not help and does not scale.
As the leading Business Analytics Conference, INFORMS provides the opportunity to interact with the world’s top forecasting researchers and practitioners. The attendance is large enough so that the best in the field are attracted, yet small enough that you can meet and discuss one-on-one. In addition, the conference features content from leading analytics professionals who share and showcase top analytics applications that save lives, save money, and solve problems.
About Dr. Thomas Willemain
Dr. Thomas Reed Willemain served as an Expert Statistical Consultant to the National Security Agency (NSA) at Ft. Meade, MD, and as a member of the Adjunct Research Staff at an affiliated think-tank, the Institute for Defense Analyses Center for Computing Sciences (IDA/CCS). He is Professor Emeritus of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, having previously held faculty positions at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also co-founder and Senior Vice President/Research at Smart Software, Inc. He is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, the Military Operations Research Society, the American Statistical Association, and several other professional organizations. Willemain received the BSE degree (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Princeton University and the MS and Ph.D. degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His other books include: Statistical Methods for Planners, Emergency Medical Systems Analysis (with R. C. Larson), and 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals on statistics, operations research, health care, and other topics. For more information, email: TomW@SmartCorp.com or visit www.TomWillemain.com.
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 Disney, Otis Elevator, Hitachi, Siemens, Metro Transit, APS, and The American Red Cross. 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.
SmartForecasts and Smart IP&O have registered trademarks of Smart Software, Inc. All other trademarks are their respective owners’ property.
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
Smart Software VP of Research to Present at Business Analytics Conference, INFORMS 2021
Dr. Tom Willemain to lead INFORMS session on Generation of Probabilistic Time-Series Scenarios
Belmont, Mass., March 2021 – Smart Software, Inc., provider of industry-leading demand forecasting, planning, and inventory optimization solutions, today announced that Tom Willemain, Vice President for Research, will present at the 2021 Virtual INFORMS Business Analytics Conference from April 12 – 14.
Dr. Willemain will present a session on Probabilistic Time-Series Scenarios, and how such scenarios are used, evaluated, and automatically generated using the statistical bootstrap. Frequently, OR models supporting business decisions are feed on massive numbers of probabilistic scenarios depicting future operating conditions. For example, with business operating at ever-lower levels of aggregation and ever-higher frequencies, demand planning and inventory optimization now use models fueled by scenarios representing the randomness of product demand at a daily scale. Dr. Willemain will discuss how even trivial decision tasks such as operator education benefit from large numbers of realistic training scenarios.
As the leading Business Analytics Conference, INFORMS provides the opportunity to interact with the world’s leading forecasting researchers and practitioners. The attendance is large enough so that the best in the field are attracted, yet small enough that you can meet and discuss one-on-one. The conference features content from leading analytics professionals, who share and showcase top analytics applications that save lives, save money, and solve problems.
Furthermore, to cutting-edge analytics content, the virtual analytics conference recognizes and prioritizes the need for quality “face-to-face” interactions, networking, and collaboration in a virtual setting.
About Dr. Thomas Willemain
Dr. Thomas Reed Willemain served as an Expert Statistical Consultant to the National Security Agency (NSA) at Ft. Meade, MD, and as a member of the Adjunct Research Staff at an affiliated think-tank, the Institute for Defense Analyses Center for Computing Sciences (IDA/CCS). He is Professor Emeritus of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, having previously held faculty positions at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also co-founder and Senior Vice President/Research at Smart Software, Inc. He is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, the Military Operations Research Society, the American Statistical Association, and several other professional organizations. Willemain received the BSE degree (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Princeton University and the MS and Ph.D. degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His other books include: Statistical Methods for Planners, Emergency Medical Systems Analysis (with R. C. Larson), and 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals on statistics, operations research, health care, and other topics. For more information, email: TomW@SmartCorp.com or visit www.TomWillemain.com.
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 Disney, Otis Elevator, Hitachi, Siemens, Metro Transit, APS, and The American Red Cross. 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.
SmartForecasts and Smart IP&O have registered trademarks of Smart Software, Inc. All other trademarks are their respective owners’ property.
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
Smart Software Joins as Sponsor of the International Symposium on Forecasting (ISF)
The International Institute of Forecasters and Smart Software announced a new association as part of Smart Software’s sponsorship of the International Symposium on Forecasting (ISF)
Belmont, Mass., March 2021 – Smart Software, Inc., provider of industry-leading demand forecasting, planning, and inventory optimization solutions, announced a new association with the International Institute of Forecasters. This sponsorship will enable Smart Software to approach leading experts in the forecasting field, including many Nobel laureates.
The International Symposium on Forecasting, presented by the International Institute of Forecasters (IIF), is the premier international event for professional forecasters. Since 1981, this event has been recognized for the important forecasting research presented there, and for having hosted highly respected experts in the field of forecasting. Smart Software will support the IIF’s initiatives to bring together industry know-how and experience with evidence-based research innovations.
The IIF has held this symposium every year for the past four decades in New York, Dublin, Prague, Hong Kong, Sydney, and virtually in 2021. The International Symposium on Forecasting (ISF) is the premier forecasting conference, attracting the world’s leading forecasting researchers, practitioners, and students. Through keynote speaker presentations, academic sessions, workshops, and social programs, the ISF provides many excellent networking and learning opportunities.
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 Disney, Otis Elevator, Hitachi, Siemens, Metro Transit, APS, and The American Red Cross. 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.
SmartForecasts and Smart IP&O have registered trademarks of Smart Software, Inc. All other trademarks are their respective owners’ property.
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
Smart Software VP of Research to Present at ISF 2018
Dr. Tom Willemain to lead ISF session on Time Series Dissaggregation
Belmont, Mass., May 14, 2018 – Smart Software, Inc., provider of industry-leading demand forecasting, planning, and inventory optimization solutions, today announced that Tom Willemain, vice president for research, will present at the International Symposium of Forecasting from June 17 – 20 in Boulder, CO.
Dr. Willemain, will present a tutorial on Time Series Dissaggregation and how the approaches he’ll outline can improve the quality of demand forecasts. Imagine that you must provide daily forecast results but can only obtain historical demand at monthly or weekly levels. Often times, granular demand data is not available. How do you proceed? Converting aggregate quarterly, monthly, or weekly data to daily data is example of the time series dissaggregation problem. Dr. Willemain will discuss current solutions to this problem and press an improved solution.
As the premier, international forecasting conference, the ISF provides the opportunity to interact with the world’s leading forecasting researchers and practitioners. The attendance is large enough so that the best in the field are attracted, yet small enough that you are able to meet and discuss one-on-one. The ISF offers a variety of networking opportunities, through keynote speaker presentations, academic sessions, workshops, meals, and social programs. In addition, representatives of leading publishing, software, and other related companies are on hand to discuss their most recent offerings.
About Dr. Thomas Willemain
Dr. Thomas Reed Willemain served as an Expert Statistical Consultant to the National Security Agency (NSA) at Ft. Meade, MD and as a member of the Adjunct Research Staff at an affiliated think-tank, the Institute for Defense Analyses Center for Computing Sciences (IDA/CCS). He is Professor Emeritus of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, having previously held faculty positions at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also co-founder and Senior Vice President/Research at Smart Software, Inc. He is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, the Military Operations Research Society, the American Statistical Association, and several other professional organizations. Willemain received the BSE degree (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Princeton University and the MS and PhD degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His other books include: Statistical Methods for Planners, Emergency Medical Systems Analysis (with R. C. Larson), and 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals on topics in statistics, operations research, health care and other topics. For more information, email: TomW@SmartCorp.com or visit www.TomWillemain.com.
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, Mitsubishi, Siemens, 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 at www.smartcorp.com
SmartForecasts is a registered trademark of Smart Software, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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
Recommended Resource: The IIF
A go-to source for info on cutting-edge forecasting research, the International Institute of Forecasters (IIF) publishes journals and hosts conferences that we have relied on for decades. In this introduction, IIF Business Manager Pam Stroud gives an overview of the organization’s offerings. (Smart Software Senior Vice President for Research Tom Willemain serves on the Editorial Board of the IIF’s practitioner-oriented publication, Foresight.)
When founded in 1981, the IIF set as its goal: “Bridge the gap between theory and practice, with practice helping to set the research agenda and research providing useful results”. The IIF keeps its members abreast of the latest trends and research in forecasting through its publications, events and website. Its members are drawn from corporations and institutes of higher learning in more than one hundred countries, and form a vibrant community for networking and professional development.
The IIF’s practitioner journal, Foresight, is dedicated to improving the practice of business forecasting, enhancing the professional development of business forecasters, and bringing forecasting know-how to those entering the profession. Because forecasting knowledge and wisdom are not concentrated in one segment of forecasters, we publish valuable ideas from across the discipline—from forecasting teachers and scholars, forecasting analysts and managers, and forecasting consultants and vendors. And we strive to ensure that these ideas are presented clearly, are supported by evidence and are free of bias.
In addition to our publications, the IIF sponsors an annual conference, the International Symposium on Forecasting (ISF). The ISF is an opportunity for researchers and practitioners to come together to share experiences and cutting edge research, and to network among their peers. The Foresight Practitioner conference extends this opportunity to practitioners, delivering practical professional development for business forecasters.
Another example of ‘bridging the gap,’ between research and practice, is the annual research grant, offered in partnership with SAS, which supports research on how to improve forecasting methods and business forecasting practice.
IIF Membership benefits include:
The International Journal of Forecasting – The IJF is the leading scholarly journal in the field of forecasting. With an outstanding editorial board of 44 internationally known forecasting experts, it is a highly readable, widely used and often-cited research journal.
Foresight: The International Journal of Applied Forecasting – Foresight publishes concise, readable and timely articles on forecasting processes, methods and solutions. It is the essential read for business forecasters and an invaluable aid for forecasting educators and students.
The International Symposium on Forecasting – Members receive discounted registration to the premier international forecasting conference. This annual IIF event attracts the world’s leading researchers, practitioners, and students. Each symposium offers more than 250 research presentations in a setting which emphasizes social interaction, and networking opportunities.
The Foresight Practitioner Conference – Members receive discounted admission to this professional development event for business forecasters, where they learn from practitioners who have earned their expertise in the field at top companies, and from forecasting researchers sharing the business implications of their work.
Recent topics from The International Journal of Forecasting:
• Economic Time Series: Modeling and Seasonality
• On the use of cross-sectional measures of forecast uncertainty
• Measuring forecasting accuracy: The case of judgmental adjustments to SKU-level demand forecasts
Recent topics from Foresight: The International Journal of Applied Forecasting
• How Good Is a “Good” Forecast?: Forecast Errors and Their Avoidability
• Forecast Methods Tutorial: ARIMA: The Models of Box and Jenkins
• Improve Forecasting of Consumer Purchases Using Google Trends
“Since 1981, the IIF has been central to my career. Why? Because it’s a diverse and clever group of people focused on pragmatic, evidence-based research. The annual symposium is a great place to exchange ideas about forecasting.” – J. Scott Armstrong, Professor of Marketing, The Wharton School
Just-In-Time (JIT) ensures that a manufacturer produces only the necessary amount, and many companies ignore the risks inherent in reducing inventories. Combined with increased globalization and new risks of supply interruption, stock-outs have abounded. So how can you execute a real-world plan for JIT inventory amidst all this risk and uncertainty? The foundation of your response is your corporate data. Uncertainty has two sources: supply and demand. You need the facts for both.
In a perfect world, Just in Time (JIT) would be the appropriate solution for inventory management. But as the saying goes “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” One enormous punch in the mouth for the global supply chain was Suez Canal Blockage that held up $9.6B in trade costing an estimated $6.7M per minute.
Safety stock is a critical component in any system of inventory management. Indeed, some inventory software treats safety stock as the key decision variable in the quest to balance inventory cost against item availability. Unfortunately, that approach is not the best way to strike the balance.
