If you share the same forecast management, demand planning and customer service challenges as these companies, why not share their solution as well?

	In my 15-year career of demand forecasting, I have never experienced such high forecast accuracy as I have at Gloria Jean’s Coffees. Demand Solutions has transformed our previously undeveloped supply and demand planning process into a best-in-class method. Helen Wheeler, Supply Planning Manager for Gloria Jean's Coffees

Inventory Challenges in the Food and Beverage Industry

Food and beverage companies are constantly introducing new products, changing the mix and adjusting package sizes to spur sales. With a few large, key accounts, the margin for error is nonexistent and the products usually stamped with expiration dates. Don't expect a major supermarket chain to be happy with a shipment of ice cream pints when it ordered 1.5 quart containers, or chocolate raisin in place of peanut butter vanilla.

More so than other time-critical lines such as fashion, food is a business where it is critical to deliver the right product at the right time in the right portion. Food producers are in a make-to-stock business and their customers expect the product to be available when they want it. Demand Solutions aids producers in new product launches, meeting seasonal shifts in demand, and in transitioning to new container sizes as retailers hold the line on prices by offering smaller packages.

It is ironic in that inventory is both the solution and the problem. Too much inventory and not enough of the right product is a common complaint in the business. That's not only a carrying cost, it can result in operating expenses with supermarkets whose contracts impose financial penalties for late and/or incomplete deliveries.

Featured Reading

Learn about improving forecast accuracy, optimal inventory management, and effective scheduling with advance planning software (APS) in the food and beverage industry with Demand Solutions' in-depth White Papers and Case Studies.

WHITE PAPER:
"10-Point Plan to Improve Forecast Accuracy"

WHITE PAPER:
"Managing Inventory for Optimal Advantage"

WHITE PAPER:
"Using APS for Effective Scheduling in the Food Process Industry"

CASE STUDY:
Demand Solutions Annual Magazine

CASE STUDY:
Demand Solutions Annual Magazine

Solutions

With Demand Solutions supply chain planning software, food companies can:

• Generate, manage and collaborate on reliably accurate forecasts
• Analyze sales history and forecasts in units, revenues, margin and any other unit of measure
• Automatically respond to seasonality, shifting growth trends, and product mix transitions
• Objectively manage new product introductions
• Forecast by SKU at the customer level and summarize in total by SKU, customer, sales channel, region, product family, supplier, and more
• Generate production plans that keep inventories in sync with ever-changing forecasts and static capacity constraints
• Drive an effective Sales & Operations Planning process

Our Products

Let us help you find the best supply chain management solution to fit each of your inventory challenges with a product suite that tailors itself specifically to your industry's needs.

Case Studies

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