Planning and Forecasting: Anticipate and Respond to Changes in Demand

When you have hundreds of products, a global network of suppliers or multiple distribution and selling channels, reducing orders when demand drops can be about as difficult as stopping a train with bad brakes. But in a rapidly changing market, you need the information to detect shifts in demand early so you can adjust for trends and send the right message to your suppliers, shippers and distribution centers before you get stuck with unwanted or obsolete goods.

Manhattan Associates' Planning and Forecasting offers sophisticated tools that help you anticipate demand—and respond quickly when it changes. Accurately predicting the impact of changing demand on key performance indicators such as margin, turn, receipt flow and inventory flow increases sales, reduces working capital requirements and keeps customers happy. Being able to accurately target assortments to customer preferences and predict the right inventory levels across all your channels requires real-time access to critical information for key players across your supply chain so that one channel's inventory or performance isn't inadvertently cannibalized in an effort to improve another's.

Planning and Forecasting allows businesses to create, modify and track their financial, assortment and promotional plans for each channel—and communicate changes across their entire supply chain. The solution neutralizes data-entry errors, peaks in demand caused by promotions and declines generated by adverse weather conditions. You can forecast confidently and adjust your plans quickly, meaning that inventory consumes less working capital while your customers receive more of what they want.

Satisfying your customer is critical to meeting your financial goals. Built-in assortment analysis enables merchants and planners to work together more productively to ensure that the right products are offered to your customers no matter where they shop. Unlimited attributing and capabilities ensures successful alignment between the brand strategy and your financial goals.

So Accurate, You'll Think It's Magic

Manhattan's SCOPE: Supply Chain Optimization—Planning through Execution optimizes all the links in your supply chain from order placement to delivery. Planning and Forecasting provides the crucial front end to your supply chain that takes your business to a higher level.

Planning and Forecasting includes everything you need to predict and respond to changes in demand, except the crystal ball:

• Demand Forecasting—Keep it simple and accurate. Predict demand at any combination of product and location nodes. Demand Forecasting is designed and synchronized to produce the optimal forecast input for Inventory Optimization, financial or assortment planning.
• Multi-Channel Planning—Integrate planning for your web, catalog and store channels to reduce redundancy and increase efficiency, while still respecting the unique characteristics of each channel.
• Financial Planning—Plan top-down or bottom-up with an easy to use, but powerful solution that manages multiple versions of plans across categories, channels and time periods.
• Assortment Planning—Customize assortments by channel. See buyers' changes immediately so you can reach your financial goals with the right mix of products.
• Item Planning—Synchronize with assortment planning to support time-phased planning and tracking for multiple key performance indicators. Micro-manage just your key items or use it to plan all your seasonal items to determine the optimum receipt flows.
• Promotion Planning—Coordinate all aspects of your promotions from one solution. Create, forecast and track events and feed anticipated lift to replenishment to avoid stock-outs on featured products.
• Store Clustering—Group stores by performance, customer profile, size or any other characteristics to stay in touch with your customers' needs without adding hundreds of store planners.

Contact Information: To learn more about Manhattan Associates' supply chain solutions, simply complete the information request form, and we will contact you. For North & South America, call +1 877.596.9208 or e-mail info_americas@manh.com. For global inquiries, call +44 (0)1344 318000 or e-mail info_global@manh.com.