The Results Are In & Manhattan Delivers
Against thousands of global entries in the benchmark, Manhattan Active® Supply Chain Planning ranks in the top 1.4%, outperforming thousands of data science professionals, academics, and corporate teams that competed. This isn’t a marketing claim, it was a blind, independently scored result using the same model that powers our product today.
Independently Benchmarked. Proven Performance.
Forecast accuracy isn’t just a buzzword, it’s the backbone of every great supply chain. That’s why we didn’t settle for internal tests. Through the benchmark, we put Manhattan Active® Supply Chain Planning (SCP) up against the world’s top forecasting minds who participated in the M5 Competition.
Our benchmark outcome? Ranking in the top 1.4% of the more than 5,500 global teams that competed.
Are you interested in exploring the M5 Accuracy Competition?
The M5 Accuracy Competition is a global benchmark for evaluating time series forecasting methods, especially in retail, and where the world’s top minds compete to prove who’s best at predicting the future.
Why It Matters?
40+ Years of Impact
Built on the legacy of M1–M4, which have shaped forecasting science.
Real Retail Data
Participants forecasted Walmart daily sales—real products, real stores, real complexity.
Beyond Accuracy
Included probabilistic forecasting, measuring not just what you predict, but how confidently.
Global Competition
Thousands of teams-from PhDs to to top tech firms—tested cutting-edge AI, ML, deep learning, and statistical models.
Industry-Proven
Challenges reflect the messiness of real-world supply chain forecasting.
Peer-Reviewed Results
Findings are published and actively inform the evolution of forecasting best practices.
Why Benchmark Against the M5?
Not Claims. Proof.
Every vendor says their forecasts are accurate—we chose to prove it
- No marketing spin
- Independent & public
- Real world
- Objectively accurate
How The M5 Competition Worked?
One Dataset. Thousands of Competitors. Zero Subjectivity.
Participants used real world Walmart sales data—complete with price, event, and calendar data—to forecast demand across a multi-level product-location hierarchy.
That means tackling everything from seasonal trends, non-linear demand dynamics to store-level quirks.
Forecasts were evaluated on:
Uncertainty
- Scaled Pinball Loss for probabilistic forecasts
Accuracy
- Root Mean Squared Scaled Error (RMSSE)
No access to peer models. No influence over the outcome.
A blind, unbiased challenge, and a true test of forecasting skill.
"Forecasting accuracy is easy to claim but hard to prove. The M5 Competition Benchmark gave us an objective, gold-standard way to validate what we've built—and these results confirm that Manhattan Active SCP can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best in the world.”
What It Means for Your Business?
Forecast smarter. Act faster. Deliver more.
With Manhattan Active® Supply Chain Planning, you’re not just predicting demand, you’re making real-time, connected decisions across your entire supply chain.
When our forecasting engine was tested in the world’s most rigorous benchmark, it delivered, ranking in the top tier of global competitors.
This isn’t just a stat. It’s independent, third-party validation that our AI-powered forecasting blends cutting-edge science with deep retail expertise, and that it works where it matters: in the real world.
Unified Forecasting to Fulfillment
Demand, replenishment, and allocation—all on a single cloud-native platform.
Integrated Execution
Natively connects with order, warehouse, and transportation systems.
Always On
No nightly batches. No silos. Just real-time, end-to-end visibility.
Proven Performance
Validated by the M5—forecasting’s global gold standard
Ready to See It in Action?
Manhattan Active SCP isn’t just built for complexity—it thrives in it.
Whether you're curious about our forecasting engine or want to see how it unifies planning and execution in real time, we’re ready to show you.
Let’s talk.
Explore the Science Behind Our Benchmark Results
Dig into the details of Manhattan Active Supply Chain Plannings top-ranked demand forecasting capabilities.
Beyond Traditional Forecasting: The Hybrid AI Advantage
Revolutionize your supply chain with Hybrid AI Demand Forecasting by Manhattan’s UFM.ai. Tackle demand volatility, optimize inventory, and enhance global accuracy.
Hybrid AI Demand Forecasting
Traditional forecasting methods struggle to keep pace with complex and ever-changing demand patterns. That's where Manhattan Active Supply Chain Planning's UFM.ai comes in.
Demand Forecasting
A hybrid approach to forecasting that seamlessly blends the power of proven statistical models with cutting-edge AI.