What is Inventory Forecasting and Why it is needed in your Business?

Inventory Forecasting in business is the interaction where the verifiable sales information, historical purchasing information, current demand planning, planned production, and distribution asset plan information are utilized for predicting inventory levels in a future time frame.

Since inventory management is reliant upon market interest, this forecast is determined dependent on the delta between the two.

Based on the particular requirement of business, Inventory Forecasting can be completed at an item level, product classification level, item-location level, and at a category-location level. It can be utilized to estimate inventory levels of finished goods, raw material, and work in process goods but is essentially utilized for finished goods analysis.

Key Components of Inventory Forecasting

For a better and informed Inventory Forecasting process, it is significant for Supply Chain Managers to comprehend the different input segments and factors that impact the Inventory Forecasting process. The following is an indicative list of input components appropriate to most Organizations. However, detailed thought should be given to the type of business, type of products, marketing activities, and competitor moves for arriving at specific inputs applicable.

The key info segments of Inventory Forecasting are:

• Historical sales data
• Historical purchasing data
• Purchasing lead time
• Manufacturing lead time
• Distribution lead time
• Demand Planning
• Supply or Central Planning

Factors affecting Inventory Level

There are numerous components that influence the inventory levels and cause a variation in the projected versus genuine inventory levels. A portion of the central point incorporate – Supplier performance, In-bound Logistics, Production limit utilization, Equipment breakdown, Quality issues, Actual client interest, Out-bound Logistics, Competitor moves, Seasonality, Environmental components, Macroeconomics, Geo-political elements, and Regulatory changes.

A dynamic and dexterous Inventory Forecasting process can get the early warning signs of inward and outer variables which can almost certainly significantly affect the projected inventory levels. Usual monitoring and fine-tuning of the Inventory Forecasting process is vital for relieving dangers of lost client orders or item out of date quality.

Attributes of Inventory Forecasting

Following are the significant attributes of Inventory Forecasting and should be thought of while assessing the yield results for dynamic:

• All Inventory Forecasts have inborn errors because of assumptions and subsequently are consistently incorrect. Subsequently, they need to determine expected value, minimum and maximum value, and percent of error.
  
• Short-term forecasts are for the most part more exact than long-term forecasts.
  
• Aggregate forecasts are for the most part more exact than individual independent forecasts because of a lower standard of deviation.
  
• As a rule, the farther up the Supply Chain, an organization is, the more noteworthy is the distortion of data it gets.

 Roles played by Inventory Forecasting in Businesses

Inventory Forecasting is a significant business process around which the operational plans of an organization are formulated. There are three significant roles of Inventory Forecasting in successful Supply Chain Management:

• Essential in operational planning of Business: Inventory Forecasting is the basic theory for operational functional business exercises like the assessment of client service levels, buying and production prioritization, redistribution, and re-situating of downstream inventory, outdated nature hazard appraisal, and mitigation.
  
• Starting all reprioritization cycles of Supply Chain: Inventory Forecasting helps reprioritization and redistribution cycles of Supply Chain like adjusting of Raw material plan, Purchasing, Inbound Logistics, Manufacturing, Outbound Logistics and fine-turning of Distribution Resource Plan. Better Inventory Forecasts assist with enhancing inventory levels and limit usage.
  
• Driving all pull-processes of Supply Chain: Inventory Forecasting drives all pull-process of Supply Chain like Order management, Packaging, Distribution, and Outbound Logistics. Better Inventory Forecast works on the Distribution and Logistics and builds Customer Service Levels.

Goods Order Inventory is the best inventory management system for this job. For more information and a tailored demonstration, please contact us or at sales@goodsorderinventory.com