

IBF On Demand
IBF0 Eric Wilson CPF
The forecasting, demand planning and S&OP podcast designed for practitioners in the field. Brought to you by the Institute of Business Forecasting with your host Eric Wilson, ACPF.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 4, 2021 • 32min
The Power Of S&OP Maturity Models In Improving S&OP
01:25 IBF's S&OP Maturity Model02:15 Transformation projects requires an initial assessment 03:15 The value of benchmarking before improving S&OP06:55 The value of S&OP during Covid-1909:24 IBF's maturity model is independent and unbiased and doesn't push you towards a software solution14:25 How to use the Maturity Model 20:18 The outputs and recommendationsSupport the showTo sign up for regular updates and the latest research, events, articles, podcasts and more from the Institute of Business Forecasting & Training, visit www.ibf.org

Dec 16, 2020 • 27min
Special Holiday Episode | Can You Forecast Better Than A 6 Year Old?
Sponsored by Arkieva, your One-Plan S&OP software. Find out about Arkieva's approach to demand planning: https://bit.ly/forecast-accuracy-webinar Benchmark your company's S&OP maturity with IBF's free-to-use S&OP maturity model. Get recommendations to improve specific areas of your process and progress to the next stage in your S&OP evolution. Try it now for free: https://bit.ly/33BiLSEIn this special holiday episode I speak to Rex and Ashni, 2 experts in the field who happen to be 6 years old. They might just be able to forecast better than you!We can learn a lot from children because they don't bring bias into their thinking, and we all know that bias can kill your forecast accuracy. Kids are also wrong with confidence - a key trait of a successful Demand Planner. They also don't sweat the small stuff, don't worry about ambiguity, and always ask "why" - all keys advantages in demand planning. 09:40 Getting rid of bias in our forecasting10:44 Why a child's curiosity is highly valuable11:58 Being wrong with confidence 14:29 Ask a lot of questions and ask "why?"15:00 Think anything is possible16:45 Fail fast 21:35 Always be learning Support the showTo sign up for regular updates and the latest research, events, articles, podcasts and more from the Institute of Business Forecasting & Training, visit www.ibf.org

Nov 24, 2020 • 30min
The Soft Skills Required For The Demand Planning Of Tomorrow
Sponsored by Arkieva, your One-Plan S&OP software. Find out about Arkieva's approach to demand planning: https://bit.ly/3hCcw62Benchmark your company's S&OP maturity with IBF's free-to-use S&OP maturity model. Get recommendations to improve specific areas of your process and progress to the next stage in your S&OP evolution. Try it now for free: https://bit.ly/33BiLSE02:00 What skills are companies prioritizing for the next 5 years?05:00 Introducing Jessica Lackey, Demand Planning Director and Life Coach06:25 Core competencies of a demand planner07:20 Can soft skills be taught?08:00 Getting data to show demand planners that lack of soft skills increases forecast error.11:00 Developing teams based on core competencies12:10 Book club for learning and shared language14:45 Myers Briggs/strength finding 16:34 Top 3 skills in 5 years time18:15 Stop being a victim and take ownership of how to live your life21:10 How forecasts can get more influence in the organization24:25 Top 3 core competencies in demand planning from IBF researchSupport the showTo sign up for regular updates and the latest research, events, articles, podcasts and more from the Institute of Business Forecasting & Training, visit www.ibf.org

Nov 9, 2020 • 34min
How To Forecast After Covid-19
Sponsored by Arkieva, your One-Plan S&OP software. Find out about Arkieva's approach to demand planning: https://bit.ly/3hCcw62Benchmark your company's S&OP maturity with IBF's free-to-use S&OP maturity model. Get recommendations to improve specific areas of your process and progress to the next stage in your S&OP evolution. Try it now: https://bit.ly/33BiLSE02:22 Contribute an article to the Journal of Business forecasting. Email the editor at andrews@ibf.org for more information.03:47: How do you forecast after Covid-19 when forecast data is no longer relevant?05:10 What is an outlier? 08:30 How companies are approaching Covid data/outliers.08:50 Smoothing historical data .12:04 Pruning historical data.13:35 Replacing historical data for the Covid period.16:17 Understand and improve methods and process.22:59 Be careful with your assumptions.24:20 Manual overrides with qualitative judgement/emerging information.27:48 Predictive analytics to look more types of data.Support the showTo sign up for regular updates and the latest research, events, articles, podcasts and more from the Institute of Business Forecasting & Training, visit www.ibf.org

Oct 12, 2020 • 32min
The Art of Demand Planning & Why Demand Planners Should Visit Store Locations
Sponsored by Arkieva, your One-Plan S&OP software. Find out about Arkieva's approach to demand planning:Benchmark your company's S&OP maturity with IBF's free-to-use S&OP maturity model. Get recommendations to improve specific areas of your process and progress to the next stage in your S&OP evolution. Try it now: https://bit.ly/33BiLSEI 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 planning04:25 Introducing Daniel Fitzpatrick06:16 Why demand planners should get out of the office and into store locations10:00 Making assumptions about competing products and how that impacts forecasts11:00 Is your product even on the shelf?14:00 Demand Planners and stores often work to different timescales 15:21 Taking ownership of your products16:52 Incorporating observations at stores into your forecasting 19:00 Challenging salespeople on their assumptions21:34 Art and science when it comes to Covid-1928:25 Why the art element is crucial as we move into the predictive analytics ageSHOW LESSSupport the showTo sign up for regular updates and the latest research, events, articles, podcasts and more from the Institute of Business Forecasting & Training, visit www.ibf.org

Sep 29, 2020 • 36min
Bringing Predictive Analytics & Forecasting Together
IBF on Demand sponsored by Arkieva. Learn about Swiftcast, Machine Learning Enabled Demand Forecasting from Arkieva: http://bit.ly/swifcastIBF's industry-leading S&OP Assessments assess your company's maturity level and provide tailor-made recommendations to improve specific areas - all designed to take you to the next level in your S&OP evolution. Click here for more information: https://bit.ly/3d58dMTWhat is predictive analytics and how does it work? I bring in Eric Siegel to help answer that question because two Eric's are better than one! He is author of the bestseller, 'Predictive Analytics, The Power To Predict Who Will Click, Buy Lie Or Die', former Columbia University professor, founder of Predictive Analytics World, and rapper (seriously!). Demand planning will become the home of predictive analytics, so let's get ready for it now.05:00 What is predictive analytics?06:00 The overlap between forecasting and predictive analytics.07:13 Why are predictive and analytics revolutionizing business? 09:20 Is predictive analytics as complicated as it sounds?11:30 How machine learning works.13:25 Logistic regression.15:33 Big Data and training data.15:58 Finding the right predictive model.20:20 Ensemble models and the wisdom of averages.23:10 Uplift modeling/persuasion modeling to create the future.27:15 How to gain knowledge in predictive analytics.33:00 My new book on predictive analytics (coming soon!).34:35 Arkieva's Swiftcast.Support the showTo sign up for regular updates and the latest research, events, articles, podcasts and more from the Institute of Business Forecasting & Training, visit www.ibf.org

Sep 14, 2020 • 30min
How To Sell Demand Planning To Execs For Support & Investment
IBF on Demand sponsored by Arkieva. Learn about Swiftcast, Machine Learning Enabled Demand Forecasting from Arkieva: http://bit.ly/swifcast IBF's industry-leading S&OP Assessments assess your company's maturity level and provide tailor-made recommendations to improve specific areas - all designed to take you to the next level in your S&OP evolution. Click here for more information: https://bit.ly/3d58dMTYou and I know the value of demand planning and predictive analytics but does anybody else? Getting the resources you need to build an effective demand planning function is difficult and it won't happen unless you go after it. And that means making sure everybody knows the value it brings to senior leaders and other departments. Here's how to get the engagement, support and trust you need for your demand planning and analytics function to succeed.03.25: how to get engagement for demand planning06:35 Learn others languages, especially that of executives so they understand what you're saying.09:55 Educating others about demand planning so they see the value.12:00 Building your demand planning brand.14:05 Find a sponsor, champion and mentor to break down barriers and be your spokesperson. 16:25: Be a salesman because they won't come to you.24:55 You don't always get what what you want and that's OK.Check out Arkieva at www.arkieva.comCheck out IBF at www.ibf.org and www.demand-planning.comSupport the showTo sign up for regular updates and the latest research, events, articles, podcasts and more from the Institute of Business Forecasting & Training, visit www.ibf.org

Aug 31, 2020 • 35min
The Supply Chain Triangle of Service, Cost And Cash
Sponsored by Arkieva, your One-Plan S&OP software. Find our more about Arkieva at www.arkieva.com IBF's industry-leading S&OP Assessments assess your company's maturity level and provide tailor-made recommendations to improve specific areas - all designed to take you to the next level in your S&OP evolution. Click here for more information: https://bit.ly/3d58dMTI interview Bram Desmet, author of 'Supply Chain Strategy And Financial Metrics', the book every executive and CEO should read! It deals with balancing the supply chain triangle of service, cost and cash and how your product strategy directly impacts how this triangle is balanced. Different strategies have different levels of complexity which come with different levels of cost, which drives different levels of inventory, and different levels of investment in fixed assets. 05:40 How your product strategy defines product complexity, inventory and cash flow09:50 Balancing the service, cost and cash triangle11:00 Why Lego has very poor inventory turns and why that isn't a problem12:40 How strategy impacts how your balance the service, cost and cash triangle14:35 EBITDA, days of inventory and working capital17:50 Understanding ROI for capital deployed with ROCE20:45 Rebalancing the triangle during Covid-1925:00 How forecast accuracy impacts the service, cost and cash triangle30:30 My experience of different company strategies and how they impact inventory management and service levelsCheck out Arkieva at www.arkieva.comCheck out IBF at www.ibf.org and www.demand-planning.comSupport the showTo sign up for regular updates and the latest research, events, articles, podcasts and more from the Institute of Business Forecasting & Training, visit www.ibf.org

Aug 18, 2020 • 35min
How To Build Your S&OP Process
IBF on Demand, sponsored by Arkieva, your one-plan S&OP software. Learn more about Arkieva's approach to S&OP here: https://bit.ly/improving-sop-performanceSee how IBF's S&OP assessments help your company get started in S&OP or improve existing processes with industry-leading bench-marking and recommendations: https://bit.ly/3d58dMTWhat exactly are the new 5 steps in S&OP for 2020? I interview demand planning guru and self-proclaimed S&OP nerd Pat Bower. Sr. Director Global Supply Chain Planning & Customer Service at Combe Inc. We discuss what best in class S&OP looks like, what process steps you need and how to get started with your S&OP process. 04:00 Special guest Pat Bower, self-proclaimed S&OP nerd and demand planning leader05:35 How many steps we need in an S&OP process10:16 Is the traditional 5 step process from the 1990's still viable?12:20 Best practices for data gathering and the Product Review14:40 Why SKUs are growing and inventory turns look unusual compared to the past16:40 What needs to lie within S&OP and what lies outside it?23:40 Looping S&OP back to feed functional and operational systems25:10 Newcomers! Start with demand then move to supply, and don't try to do all steps at once28:05 Three golden rules to remember about S&OP 33:50 How IBF's S&OP and assessments get your company on the path to S&OP successFind out more about IBF at www.ibf.org and www.demand-planning.comFind out about Arkieva at www.arkieva.comSHOW LESSSupport the showTo sign up for regular updates and the latest research, events, articles, podcasts and more from the Institute of Business Forecasting & Training, visit www.ibf.org

Jul 29, 2020 • 35min
Why S&OP Needs S&OE To Work Properly
Sponsored by Arkieva, your one plan S&OP software. Learn more about Arkieva's approach to S&OP here: https://bit.ly/improving-sop-performanceRight now nearly half of companies have abandoned S&OP and moved to S&OE (Sales & Operations Execution) to help manage the current demand disruptions. But is it a good idea, and what does a good S&OE process look like? I invited S&OP expert Jeff Baker to reveal best practices and how S&OP and S&OE can work together to both "firefight" the short term demand volatility while managing the longer term strategy.02:58 46% of companies are on a weekly S&OP cycle. Is that a good idea?05:11 S&OP expert Jeff Baker explains what S&OE is09:24 Differences between S&OP & S&OE10:40 What does a weekly S&OP process look like?12:54 What are the inputs into the S&OE meeting?18:15 Point of Sale data for demand sensing19:49 Time fences and lead time to set your S&OP meeting cadence21:06 Overview of S&OE21:40 Should you choose either S&OP or S&OE or have both?25:20 Should you start with S&OP or S&OE?28:27 Why S&OP fails29:05 The power of communication, collaboration and transparency during times of difficultyFind out more about IBF at www.ibf.org and www.demand-planning.comFind out about Arkieva at www.arkieva.comSupport the showTo sign up for regular updates and the latest research, events, articles, podcasts and more from the Institute of Business Forecasting & Training, visit www.ibf.org


