New product forecasting is one of the toughest demand management challenges, especially for the 15 to 20 percent of product launches that are "revolutionary." Charlie Chase, advisory industry consultant at SAS, explains how advances in technology are improving this process.
The way most companies evaluate forecasting performance tells them the magnitude of their error, but does little to identify causes of the error or potential for improvement, says Michael Gilliland of SAS. Gilliland explains how the addition of a few simple analytic tools can provide fuller and more useful evaluations.
Widespread market volatility since the economic crisis of 2008 means that traditional forecasting methods are insufficient, says Charles Chase of SAS. Fortunately, advanced technologies for collecting and analyzing vast amounts of real-time data are giving companies new ways to sense and even shape demand.