In industrial or business cases, purchasing and procurement are significant functions. Usually, a procurement plan is prepared based on certain predictions of consumption patterns or demand. When this plan is implemented, the benefit is obtained corresponding to forecast accuracy. In the available literature, forecasting accuracy is frequently discussed. A need is established to link forecasting accuracy with forecasting expenditures. After an explicit inclusion of the forecasting expenditure, this book describes inventory planning for procurement and production. FEATURES Discusses forecasting expenditure in detail Provides an analysis of reduction and increase in forecasting expenditures Highlights advanced concepts that include procurement inventory, production planning, and priority planning in detail Examines an approach in relation to the inclusion of an explicit cost of forecasting Covers total cost formulation, modified total cost, relevant index, threshold value, and cost of forecasting in a comprehensive manner with the help of examples Inventory Planning with Forecasting Expenditure is useful for undergraduate and postgraduate students in engineering and management and has potential for elective and supplementary core courses.

This practical book covers the forecasting- and inventory control methods used in commercial, retail and manufacturing companies. Colin Lewis explains the theory and practice of current demand forecasting methods, the links between forecasts produced as a result of analysing demand data and the various methods by which this information, together with cost information on stocked items, is used to establish the controlling parameters of the most commonly used inventory control systems. The demand forecasting section of the book concentrates on the family of short-term forecasting models based on the exponentially weighted average and its many variants and also a group of medium-term forecasting models based on a time series, curve fitting approach. The inventory control sections investigate the re-order level policy and re-order cycle policy and indicate how these two processes can be operated at minimum cost while offering a high level of customer service.

This book describes the methods used to forecast the demands at inventory holding locations. The methods are proven, practical and doable for most applications, and pertain to demand patterns that are horizontal, trending, seasonal, promotion and multi-sku. The forecasting methods include regression, moving averages, discounting, smoothing, two-stage forecasts, dampening forecasts, advance demand forecasts, initial forecasts, all time forecasts, top-down, bottom-up, raw and integer forecasts, Also described are demand history, demand profile, forecast error, coefficient of variation, forecast sensitivity and filtering outliers. The book shows how the forecasts with the standard normal, partial normal and truncated normal distributions are used to generate the safety stock for the availability and the percent fill customer service methods. The material presents topics that people want and should know in the work place. The presentation is easy to read for students and practitioners; there is little need to delve into difficult mathematical relationships, and numerical examples are presented throughout to guide the reader on applications. Practitioners will be able to apply the methods learned to the systems in their locations, and the typical worker will want the book on their bookshelf for reference. The potential market is vast. It includes everyone in professional organizations like APICS, DSI and INFORMS; MBA graduates, people in industry, and students in management science, business and industrial engineering.

Does inventory management sometimes feel like a waste of time? Learn how to maximize your inventory management process to use it as a tool for making important business decisions.

INTERMITTENT DEMAND FORECASTING The first text to focus on the methods and approaches of intermittent, rather than fast, demand forecasting Intermittent Demand Forecasting is for anyone who is interested in improving forecasts of intermittent demand products, and enhancing the management of inventories. Whether you are a practitioner, at the sharp end of demand planning, a software designer, a student, an academic teaching operational research or operations management courses, or a researcher in this field, we hope that the book will inspire you to rethink demand forecasting. If you do so, then you can contribute towards significant economic and environmental benefits. No prior knowledge of intermittent demand forecasting or inventory management is assumed in this book. The key formulae are accompanied by worked examples to show how they can be implemented in practice. For those wishing to understand the theory in more depth, technical notes are provided at the end of each chapter, as well as an extensive and up-to-date collection of references for further study. Software developments are reviewed, to give an appreciation of the current state of the art in commercial and open source software. “Intermittent demand forecasting may seem like a specialized area but actually is at the center of sustainability efforts to consume less and to waste less. Boylan and Syntetos have done a superb job in showing how improvements in inventory management are pivotal in achieving this. Their book covers both the theory and practice of intermittent demand forecasting and my prediction is that it will fast become the bible of the field.” —Spyros Makridakis, Professor, University of Nicosia, and Director, Institute for the Future and the Makridakis Open Forecasting Center (MOFC). “We have been able to support our clients by adopting many of the ideas discussed in this excellent book, and implementing them in our software. I am sure that these ideas will be equally helpful for other supply chain software vendors and for companies wanting to update and upgrade their capabilities in forecasting and inventory management.” —Suresh Acharya, VP, Research and Development, Blue Yonder. “As product variants proliferate and the pace of business quickens, more and more items have intermittent demand. Boylan and Syntetos have long been leaders in extending forecasting and inventory methods to accommodate this new reality. Their book gathers and clarifies decades of research in this area, and explains how practitioners can exploit this knowledge to make their operations more efficient and effective.” —Thomas R. Willemain, Professor Emeritus, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Incorporating 25 years of sales forecasting management research with more than 400 companies, Sales Forecasting Management, Second Edition is the first text to truly integrate the theory and practice of sales forecasting management. This research includes the personal experiences of John T. Mentzer and Mark A. Moon in advising companies how to improve their sales forecasting management practices. Their program of research includes two major surveys of companies′ sales forecasting practices, a two-year, in-depth study of sales forecasting management practices of 20 major companies, and an ongoing study of how to apply the findings from the two-year study to conducting sales forecasting audits of additional companies. The book provides comprehensive coverage of the techniques and applications of sales forecasting analysis, combined with a managerial focus to give managers and users of the sales forecasting function a clear understanding of the forecasting needs of all business functions. New to This Edition: The author′s well-regarded Multicaster software system demo, previously available on cassette, has been updated and is now available for download from the authors′ Web site New insights on the critical area of qualitative forecasting are presented The results of additional surveys done since the publication of the first edition have been added The discussion of the four dimensions of forecasting management has been significantly enhanced Significant reorganization and updating has been done to strengthen and improve the material for the second edition. Sales Forecasting Management is an ideal text for graduate courses in sales forecasting management. Practitioners in marketing, sales, finance/accounting, production/purchasing, and logistics will also find this easy-to-understand volume essential.

Integrated inventory management is a compelling approach that is driving many of the organizational changes in manufacturing today. It is gaining industry-wide acceptance as it supports companies who are collapsing management levels.

Supply Chain Strategy and Financial Metrics is a step-by-step guide to balancing the triangle of service, cost and cash which is the essence of supply chain management. Supply chains have become increasingly strategy-driven, and this Supply Chain Triangle approach puts the supply chain at the heart of the strategy discussion instead of seeing it as a result. Supply Chain Strategy and Financial Metrics fully reflects the 'inventory' or 'working capital' angle and examines the optimisation of the supply chain and Return on Capital Employed. Including case studies of Barco, Casio and a selection of food retail companies, this book covers building a strategy-driven KPI dashboard, target setting and financial benchmarking. Regular examples and diagrams illustrate how different types of strategies lead to different trade-offs in the Supply Chain Triangle. This ground-breaking text links supply chain, strategy and finance through financial metrics, therefore creating value for the shareholder. Online supporting resources include worksheets covering basic financial concepts such as cash flow and working capital, with example data sets and guidelines/exercises to make it interactive.

Inventory management is a critical component of supply chain management, addressing how much inventory should be carried across the supply chain, where to carry it, and how much safety stock is required to meet the organization's cost and customer service objectives. Now, there's an authoritative and comprehensive guide to best-practice inventory management in any organization. Authored by world-class experts in collaboration with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), this text gives students and practitioners a thorough understanding of each leading approach to managing supply chain inventories, and the variables that drive decisions about inventory levels. It discusses the fundamental need for inventory, how product value affects inventory decisions, how to determine inventory levels, how the number of inventory locations affects inventory levels, and new approaches to reducing inventory. Coverage includes: Basic inventory management goals, roles, concepts, purposes, and terminology, including periodic inventory, perpetual inventory, safety stock, cycle count, ABC analysis, carrying and stockout costs, and more Key inventory management elements, processes, and interactions Principles/strategies for establishing efficient and effective inventory flows The critical role of technology in inventory planning and management New approaches to reducing inventory including postponement, vendor-managed inventories, cross-docking, and quick response systems Understanding essential trade-offs between inventory and transportation costs, including the impact of carrying costs Requirements and challenges of global inventory management Best practices for assessing inventory management performance using standard metrics and frameworks