7 Sure-Fire Signs You Need a Demand Planning System
Lanham Associates: 7 Sure-Fire Signs You Need a Demand Planning System
In today’s competitive marketplace, properly managing your inventory is critical to the success of your business. 
With so many supply chain factors out of your direct control, now is an ideal time to optimize the things you can control concerning your inventory position.
Investing in the right demand planning system is an excellent way for distributors and manufacturers to get started on the Inventory Management path. You’ll have to invest some money and time, but the potential benefits are worth it. According to industry experts, the ROI for the total cost and effort to implement this type of inventory management software can often be paid back in just a few months.
7 Indicators That You Need a Demand Planning System
If you’re uncertain about whether you need a demand planning system, here are seven indications that you do:
- You experience stockouts of key items, even though you have too much inventory.
- Even with inventory levels that are too high, you still struggle with identifying the over-stocked items.
- Reviewing items for replenishment is taking up too many hours.
- Identifying appropriate replenishment quantities for spoke items, in a hub & spoke warehouse replenishment arrangement, is too time-consuming.
- As it makes purchase recommendations, your current system neglects to factor in vendor price breaks or vendor targets which would make the most sense for your situation.
- Sporadic, erratic, and slow-moving items have to be managed manually.
- Your system keeps using the same forecast, even after you’ve over-consumed it.
If any of these sound familiar, you may want to explore Lanham’s Demand Planning system which can help reduce inventory levels and increase profits. After all, if you have excess inventory your carrying costs can consume your profits, and if you don’t stock what your customers want, they’ll go elsewhere.
Additional Solutions
In addition to Demand Planning, Lanham offers distributors supply chain solutions to address the following areas:
- EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)
- Shipping & Receiving
- Warehousing
- Inbound Containers
Lanham solutions are built with the same user interface as Microsoft Dynamics 365 BC, so once they are installed you can’t tell where Lanham solutions or Business Central starts and stops. They also use Business Central’s business logic and store data inside BC. This means customers can seamlessly and securely see and use all their supply chain data in their familiar ERP system. And since all Lanham software extensions are designed to work together, customers can start with their most pressing need, and add solutions as their business grows.
Need More?
Visit Lanham Associates to learn more about our supply chain solutions, or contact their experts here to schedule a demo.