Forecast accuracy steps up a gear at Gazelle

Oct. 16, 2012 - PRLog -- Bicycle manufacturer Gazelle has enhanced its customer service through a new approach to inventory management. By using Optimiza software from Barloworld Supply Chain Software (SCS), Gazelle has increased forecast accuracy by 10%.

“Customer service is our top priority and achieving higher forecast accuracy helps to improve our service levels by helping us to meet more customer demands” says Gerco Oosterink, Demand and Supply Manager at Gazelle. “Optimiza Demand Planner software helps us to respond quickly to possible changes in expected demand and we are now able to identify exceptions and convert this data into a well-considered demand plan.”

Reliable forecasts help to create an effective demand plan, leading to improved revenue forecast accuracy, and inventory levels aligned with peaks and troughs in demand. Gazelle’s operation faces a number of challenges in demand planning, with a particularly complex supply chain that includes a constantly changing product range, 800 SKUs (Stock Keeping Units), and long lead times on the various components required.  The product range changes each year with new models (in different colours) added and some models discontinued, so sales history data, which is usually a key step in demand planning, cannot necessarily be used in the standard way.

However, Optimiza Demand Planner (ODP) software helps Gazelle to keep the demand plan up-to-date, based on orders received from dealers, Point of Sale data and a library of demand profiles from recent collection years.

When selecting ODP software from Barloworld SCS and its reseller partner for the Benelux region, Toplogic, Gazelle’s goal was to realise a reliable forecast at 65% accuracy. Following the implementation of ODP, Gazelle has seen its forecast reliability go from 60% to 70% accuracy.

“ODP software is an advanced demand management tool, designed to help organisations, such as Gazelle, build and maintain an accurate demand forecast” explains Richard Mobbs of Barloworld SCS.  “In Gazelle’s case, ODP has been configured with a pyramid structure, making it possible to forecast the demand on a cumulative level.”  

Alex Verweij of Toplogic adds “Gazelle required ODP as an advanced software solution to support its complex supply chain, but the company also understands the importance of aligning employees and supply chain processes with the defined inventory management strategies.”

To find out more about supply chain modelling solutions, visit http://www.barloworldscs.com.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

“Barloworld Supply Chain Software develops flexibly deployed software solutions,
to enable clients to solve scalable & complex supply chain planning challenges,
at the Supply Chain Design, Deployment and Execution level,
supported by proven methodologies & processes,
and international domain experts in Supply Chain Network & Inventory performance”

Barloworld Supply Chain Software is a leading global supply chain planning company, providing expertise, tools and solutions to help companies optimise their network and inventory performance.
It has over 20 years’ experience in supply chain planning, with more than 400 software installations across over 600 international clients, supported from offices in the UK, France, USA, South Africa, U.A.E, China and partners worldwide.
Barloworld Supply Chain Software provides planning software and methodologies to support supply chain efficiency and continuous performance improvement. It offers global solutions in: Supply chain network design, Demand planning and forecasting, Inventory management, Inventory strategy & Integrated demand and supply planning.
Barloworld Supply Chain Software is part of the Logistics arm of Barloworld Plc, a South African multinational with over 18,600 employees and a turnover of more than $7.2 billion.
For further information please visit www.barloworldscs.com

Toplogic is a Dutch consulting company providing inventory management solutions. The company has been a partner and value added reseller of Barloworld SCS in the Benelux region since 2005. For more information please visit www.toplogic.nl.

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