Top 5 demand forecasting trends to look for in 2024

What is demand forecasting?

Demand forecasting is the process of predicting future demand for a product or service. It involves analysing historical sales data, market trends, seasonality, external factors, events, and other relevant factors to estimate the quantity of goods or services that consumers will likely purchase over a specified period.

Demand Forecasting: Core of Supply Chain Optimisation

Demand forecasting lies at the core for supply chain of businesses to make informed decisions regarding production, inventory management, pricing, marketing strategies, and resource allocation. By accurately predicting demand, organisations can optimise their operations, minimise stock outs or excess inventory, improve customer satisfaction, and improve margins & profitability.

Top 5 demand forecasting trends to look for in 2024

• AI and ML Based Learning: There are limitations of excel based planning in terms of lower accuracies and scalability leading to an increase in adoption of AI and ML algorithms to solve complexities in demand forecasting. In coming years, businesses irrespective of size of data and scale will resort to advanced ML demand forecasting methods.
• Self Serve applications: There’s a decreasing gap between technology and business in the area of demand forecasting. Demand Planners want to access and analyse data quickly & independently, leading to an increasing need of self-serve platforms that can empower them and reduce the time in decision-making.
• Interconnectedness: Demand forecasting doesn’t operate in isolation. It is interconnected with inventory management, promotion planning, supply chain operations, and more. Recognising these interconnections and creating solutions will give competitive edge to early adopters.
• Real-time Data Integration: Real-time data integration is becoming increasingly necessary for demand and inventory planning especially for F&B industry. Daily visibility of rate of sales, expired stock and stock on hand empowers business leaders in quick decision making.
• Auto ML Expert for Demand Forecasting: Automated Machine Learning (AutoML) tools are proving game changers for demand forecasting and supply chain optmization. These tools automate the complex process of model selection, feature engineering, and hyper-parameter tuning, making it easier for organizations to develop accurate forecasting models without requiring deep expertise in ML techniques.

Curious to know how TrueGradient integrates these trends into their product? Reach out to us at info@truegradient.ai for a detailed walkthrough & product demo. 🚀