High-Tech Leaders Meet in San Francisco to Discuss Forecasting & Planning Innovation

Apple, Google, Cisco, Intel, Nokia, Samsung and others attend the High Tech Forecasting & Planning Summit in San FranciscoApril 22-23, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The future of forecasting and S&OP, though not entirely straightforward, is both a bright and promising one. Many companies already view forecasting as a core business function, and the modest remainder are quickly coming around to this way of thinking. However, a well-orchestrated S&OP process provides the bedding within which forecasting can be informed by the best understanding and inputs from across a business to produce optimal supply and demand planning.

The establishment and maintenance of a successful forecasting & planning function can present some challenging questions. Certainly choosing which from the many thousands of methods and models to use is a contentious issue, as is the decision of which technology solutions are necessary to support them. Issues such as these deserve careful thought and may require investment in new staff, training, consultancy or systems. However, blind investment is never the solution; rather, finding and executing the best-forecast methods requires time, effort, and an open mind.

An effective strategy involves not only aligning goals across all business sectors, but also promoting a broad and open minded approach in order to achieve these goals. Clarity across all sectors is of the utmost importance. In order to avoid feelings of exclusion, all members of the business must be kept fully informed with regard to the technical specifications of suggested business models, IT solutions and forecasting techniques. Most importantly, forecasting & planning should be fully integrated in order to best serve and shape a company's overall strategy.

At the summit an example of the issues discussed include:

Stakeholder collaboration

Leveraging the influence of customers and suppliers is integral to successful S&OP, allowing businesses to extend the scope of potential improvements. Converting supply and demand can also be frustrating as it depends a great deal on data from wholesalers

Focus on profit

It is important to make sure that planning and forecasting are expressly linked to the bottom line. This requires a willingness to constantly challenge assumptions, such as which products are most profitable, and to focus on identifying and prioritising the most attractive market segments suited to your business. By setting targets, and having a clear set of goals which underpin the overall strategic arc, businesses are able to focus their profit based forecasts more accurately.

Flexibility

Forecasting is never going to be perfect so companies need to be ready to change assumptions and reassess if forecasts are off.

Significant challenges remain within forecasting & Planning. So, with senior level speakers coming from many of the world's leading companies & research agencies, the High Tech Forecasting & Planning Summit agenda is set up to tackle all the issues companies are facing. More information about the summit and details of how to reserve places to attend are available on http://www.09.ie-grp.com/High-Tech_Brochure.pdf or by contacting the summit director below.

    Contact:

    Daniel Watts
    Marketing Director
    IE Group
    +1 (310) 933 6017

For more info - See the brochure here http://www.09.ie-grp.com/High-Tech_Brochure.pdf