Improve sales and operations results with analytics.
For CPG companies, the ability to accurately predict product demand is critical to all parts of the value chain-from sales to marketing to manufacturing. Yet, forecasting is a major pain point for most companies. In addition to technical complexity, it is arguably the most politically charged area of analytics. Fractal’s Demand Forecasting Solutions enable companies to address these challenges by offering a transparent, flexible solution that can be fully customized to a company’s needs.
Fractal helps CPG companies through:
- Highly-customized tools that can be adapted to reflect specific business models and market conditions
- Integration with existing systems and data sources
- A robust statistical methodology for existing and new products
- AI-assisted technology that provides an enhanced approach for new product forecasting
- Scale to provide full coverage across multiple categories and markets
Fractal can help CPG companies realize many benefits, including:
- Increase accuracy levels 15%-35% depending on the business model and availability of sales drivers’ data
- Lower inventory costs and improve service levels by increasing accuracy to drive reductions in inventory costs and drive high ROI and service levels
- Reduce turnaround time where the forecasting cycle decreases three to four times compared to intuition-based approaches, leveraging automation that allows demand planners to focus on value-added activities
- Standardized and transparent processes that minimize human error through enhanced automation, allowing the organization to cover more categories and drive deeper insights with no increase in estimators
- Scalability and uniformity across markets
S&OP in action
A global personal care company with a highly complex business model and direct sales force had been struggling for years with low forecast accuracy. The company used a highly manual forecasting process, relying on the experience and intuitions of planners. Rapid product turnover resulted in many outliers, with either excess unsold inventory or shortages and missed sales.
Fractal’s demand forecasting solution was adapted to the client’s business model, accounting for specific drivers such as field promotions, bundles and co-promoted items, and a module for new product estimation. The solution resulted in a 15- point increase in forecast accuracy, significant increases in speed and efficiency, a 5 percent reduction of inventory costs, and a 10 percent improvement in service levels.