By definition, good demand planning is customer focused.
Therefore, it should be led by those who have the most contact with and the greatest understanding of the customer – that is, Sales and Marketing, and not the Supply Chain team.
Demand planning MUST be integrated with marketing planning process, so that it is fully aligned with marketing and business strategy.
1. Come up with what does ‘Good look like’.
This could be the targeted inventory turns. Or Certain level of availability in the stock locations.
2. Understand the levers the company has in control of.
Pricing, Promotional activity and New product introductions are some of the levers that companies use in their arsenal.
3. Check the assumptions built into your plan.
Almost always the plan will be different from reality. Unless you explicitly bake the assumptions, proper audit (post the season) will be tough to do. So document all the assumptions that go into making a plan.
4. Take into account not only direct customer but also customer’s customer and the end consumer.
5. Segment different customer demands of different customer groups while maintaining economies of scale.
6. Work as close to the demand signal as possible (and not as per someone else’s forecast)
Serious competitive advantage can be achieved by beginning with the customer, understanding their requirements and then aligning your business accordingly.