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I’ve written previously about some of the Seven Deadly Sins of Sales Forecasting. In today’s article, we’ll look at another major misstep that many manufacturers and distributors make. It’s a mistake that seems harmless at a glance, but it can have serious consequences throughout your forecasting process.

Suppose you’re creating your forecast for the upcoming quarter. After carefully gathering…

I’ve seen it play out so many times.

A growing, well-established manufacturing company decides to take its business processes to the next level by implementing an ERP system. The company evaluates solutions, makes the best choice for its needs, and begins the implementation process.

Months later, the new system is live, and the company’s planners begin building their business…

If you’ve known me for longer than five minutes, or if you’ve read more than one or two of my blog articles, you’ve heard me say it before:

Improving the way you manage your supply chain can have a dramatic impact on your working capital.

And let’s face it—what could be more important than enhancing working capital? After all, we’re not in this business just to make our lives…

Can you imagine what most manufacturers would do if you told them they could no longer get sales information about their own company?

If you instead forced them to buy consolidated industry distribution information from a third-party supplier? If you told them they’ll have to work backwards from this aggregated data to estimate their own sales?

And if you happened to mention…

Picture this scenario: You’re a growing manufacturing or distribution company that has been using the same supply chain management software for many years. (Maybe you don’t need to picture a scenario—maybe this is your actual situation.)

As you reevaluate your current solution, you realize it’s missing certain key features that would support your evolving business processes. So, you contact…