High customer service levels are critically important to wholesale distributors because unserved orders usually translate into lost sales that directly impact the bottom line. Recent trends exacerbate the challenge. Offshore supplies create longer, less flexible lead times. Shorter product life cycles increase the number of SKUs and obsolescence risk. Margins are under pressure. To gain an edge or capture market share usually requires an expanding e-commerce channel.
ToolsGroup enables our customers to outperform in this market. Our wholesale distributors achieve sustainable fill rates as high as 99%, typically with 20% less inventory.
Demand modeling incorporates internal and external elements such as market trends, seasonal demand profiles and promotion forecasting. We provide insight into demand variability, helping manage business uncertainty. A powerful statistical forecasting engine assesses the chance of repeat orders by examining order-line data. Rather than aggregate demand, it keeps track of the number of order-lines placed to reach the total quantity. This bottom up approach helps you identify profitable and unprofitable ordering patterns.
Your sales team is integral to demand planning, so demand collaboration brings together demand and forecast data from multiple sources in a web-based consensus platform that even measures Forecast Value Added (FVA).
Inventory optimization and purchasing/replenishment calculate safety stocks and other inventory parameters for an optimal inventory mix across up to millions of SKU-Locations. It also addresses product expiration and substitution, transportation constraints such as minimum order quantities, and even S&OP.
