Don Reid, Director, Forecasting & Demand Planning, Miller Coors

Putting empirical evidence in your collaborative forecasting process

Improve forecast accuracy and improve sales collaboration by moving from qualitative, judgment calls to more fact based impacts of business drivers using causal forecasting.  Drive direct linkages between commercial planning and forecasting while also providing greater sales performance insights and ‘what-if’ analysis.  Ultimate goal: improve company’s ability manage proactively and forecast accuracy.

Gary Godfrey, a Partner in our Supply Chain Strategy Practice 

Supply Chain Planning Mastery

The economic environment seems to be no match for top tier organizations who always seem to be able to exceed market expectations and beat out their competition no matter what the current challenges are.  Consistent supply chain performance is a critical factor to the success of those top tier organizations. In 2008, Accenture led an extensive research effort to define what a master of supply chain does differently than their competition. 

Pat Conroy, Vice Chairman and US Consumer Products Leader, Deloitte

Consumer-centric Innovation:  Collaborating to drive growth

 Innovation.  It’s a word that appears in just about every annual report from companies that sell products for the consumer’s end use.  Everyone talks about it, but, sadly, very few companies think innovatively about the concept, particularly when it comes to new product development.  While many executives acknowledge this failing, they also admit that true innovation remains a crucial pathway to long-term success, even for the mature sectors within the consumer products arena

Paul McMorrow, Sr. Supply Planning Manager, H.J. Heinz Co.

Supply Chain Planning for Improved Cash Flow

•    Economic / Credit situation placing premium on external cash generation

•    Operating free cash flow (OFCF) becoming more critical

•    Inventory is typically the largest investment in working capital and often the biggest drain on OFCF

•    Sales forecasting in a economic conditions not seen in decades poses unique challenges that can’t be solved with pure historical trends

•    Lean how H.J. Heinz is developing a more demand-responsive supply chain to address a economy-influenced sales forecasting challenge not seen in decades