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I talk to demand planning expert and long-time contributor to IBF's publications, Daniel Fitzpatrick. He shares how he channels his inner Bob Ross to get a handle on the art aspect of demand planning, and combining it with the science to approach demand planning as a 'craft'. Every week he gets out of the office and into stores to understand the the non-quantitative assumptions to place the numbers in context and to feed back to the sales team. Remember that as one thing becomes commoditized (the science/analytics), something else becomes a premium, and that is the art side of our profession.

02:10 Art and science in demand planning
04:25 Introducing Daniel Fitzpatrick
06:16 Why demand planners should get out of the office and into store locations
10:00 Making assumptions about competing products and how that impacts forecasts
11:00 Is your product even on the shelf?
14:00 Demand Planners and stores often work to different timescales
15:21 Taking ownership of your products
16:52 Incorporating observations at stores into your forecasting
19:00 Challenging salespeople on their assumptions
21:34 Art and science when it comes to Covid-19
28:25 Why the art element is crucial as we move into the predictive analytics age

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The Art of Demand Planning & Why Demand Planners Should Visit Store Locations