Forecasting Fundamentals

Business leaders know that accurate forecasting is a critical organizational capability. Forecasting is predicting the future, and the list of what needs to be predicted to run a world-class organization and its supply chain is virtually endless. Forecasting goes well beyond simply predicting demand or sales. Accurate forecasts are essential for identifying new market opportunities, forecasting risks, events, supply chain disruptions, innovation, competition, market growth and trends. It also includes the ability to conduct 'what-if' analysis to understand the tradeoff implications of decisions. Over the past few years the ability to make accurate and useful forecasts has become particularly challenging due to a spike in the competitiveness of global markets coupled with a global economic recession. Customers are demanding increasingly shorter response times, improved quality, and greater product choice. Increased competition is exacerbated by a downward global economy and rising fuel prices, which increase uncertainty, risk, and operating costs. The result has been a sharp rise in the complexity of what needs to be forecasted. In an era of rapid change, historical data that are typically used to make forecasts can be of limited value. At the same time information technology has enabled forecasts to drive entire supply chains and enterprise resources planning systems. However, more technology and software, without an understanding of how they can most effectively be utilized, are not the answer to improving forecast accuracy

Dr. Sanders is an internationally recognized thought leader and expert in forecasting and supply chain management. Dr. Sanders is the distinguished professor of supply chain management at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University, and holds a PhD and MBA from the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. Dr. Sanders has held a range of leadership roles in both academic and professional organizations and has served on numerous executive boards. She has provided training and consulting to a range of Fortune 500 companies, and is a frequently called upon keynote speaker and expert witness. Dr. Sanders has authored over one hundred scholarly works and has served on the editorial boards of prominent journals.