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| Conferences & Events |
Conference: The Dynamic Supply Chain--Strategies for Implementing Sustainable Competitive Advantage, Nov 17-18, NY Hear Glen Margolis, Founder & EVP Steelwedge Software, Carol Ptak, Former APICS CEO and Author, Others Learn more Previous Webcasts -- State-of-the-Art Sales Forecasting Management September 13, 1pm Eastern, 10am Pacific Principal Speakers - Professor J. Tom Mentzer, University of Tennessee Todd Jones, Sr. Director Sales Operations, QLogic Click here to view recording Forecasting and Consensus Planning in a Rapidly Changing Environment June 15, 2005, 1pm Eastern, 10am Pacific Principal Speaker - Christine Pfefferle, Director of Global Demand & Order Management, Tellabs Click here to view recording Extending SAP for Global, Integrated S&OP , May 25, 2005 Stu Reekie, Air Products Click here to view recording |
| Related Articles |
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Turbo charging your sales forecasting process |
| Your Thoughts |
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If you have ideas for future articles or how we can improve this newsletter, please send us your feedback
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New Product Forecasting Considerations, Issues and Techniques |
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By
Kenneth Kahn, Ph.D. University of Tennessee |
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Marketing, operations and finance professionals deal with a myriad of considerations and issues when introducing new products. For example, there are various kinds of new products and many available techniques for forecasting these new products. Defining the environment and determining the right methodology are critical to generating accurate and meaningful forecasts. Let's begin by looking at the new product landscape. The Product Development Management Association (PDMA) has identified seven different types of new products--cost reductions, product improvements, line extensions, new uses, new markets, new category entries (new-to-the-company), and new-to-the-world products.
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Waterfall Analysis--
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| By Anil Gupta, Principal, The Applications Marketing Group | By Anders Gjerde, Senior Manager and Business Analyst at Steelwedge Software | |
Sales Forecasting and Planning is one of the most important business planning processes within a manufacturing company. Sales forecasting is also the starting point for sales and operations planning (S&OP) and has a significant influence on a company's operating budgets and spending plans. In order to streamline the sales forecasting process, improve forecast accuracy, guarantee scalability, reduce overhead on sales associates and ensure transparency/auditability of the entire process, a company should deploy enterprise-class sales forecasting software, rather than using manual spreadsheets. However, a manufacturer looking for sales forecasting software can acquire such a system from three distinct categories of vendors:
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Most business plans and forecasts give you a snapshot of where you are right now, and what is expected for the future. If your plans never changed, then all would be well - your planning needs are met. But the reality for many managers and executives can best be described as a planning process that is in a state of constant change, with too much information to track and too little time to make sense of it. It's critical to know-- What changed? How much? When? This is where waterfall analysis can help, providing a vehicle for answering the above questions. Waterfall Analysis is a term used by professionals in planning and performance management, but, surprisingly many are confused about what it means, how it is used, and/or how to interpret results. This article seeks to clarify some of this confusion by first describing what waterfall analysis is, then providing some examples of how waterfall analysis can be effectively used, and finally, what is needed to be able to do waterfall analysis. 
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