{"id":10317,"date":"2021-10-08T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=10317"},"modified":"2025-09-29T17:52:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T09:52:52","slug":"crm-better-manufacturing-forecasting-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/ap\/blog\/crm-better-manufacturing-forecasting-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern Forecasting Technology: Changing the Game for Manufacturers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As every manufacturer knows, demand forecasting is critical to operational success. Accurately predicting future sales allows you to set the right targets for procurement and production. Overestimate, and you’ll be trying to explain to management why shelves are full of obsolete inventory no one can sell. Underestimate, and you’ll be trying to mend fences with customers who can’t get what they need quickly enough, or trying to juggle schedules and shift priorities at the last minute, only to alienate other customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is conventional enterprise resource planning-based (ERP) forecasting methods just aren\u2019t good enough. They often rely too heavily on data from a static past to predict a future where variables are ever-evolving. But new technologies are changing the game. They\u2019re enabling manufacturers to understand future demand better than ever before. And that means meeting customer expectations and effectively growing the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Modernise your operations<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Siloed systems and processes can hurt sales and lead to lower revenue. In our new Manufacturer’s Guide to Modernising Commercial Operations, learn how you can unify your customer data and become more productive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\tCheck out the guide<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
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What demand forecasting can and can\u2019t do<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Forecasting starts with ERPs. Executives rely on ERPs to make important decisions about allocating resources to meet demand. These systems are a storehouse for information on past production and shipments, supply chain figures, financial statements, and signed contracts, as well as data about labor and machinery. You can\u2019t live without them. But sometimes it\u2019s tough to live with <\/em>them.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In a typical ERP setup, your ERP feeds into your demand planning software, which analyses historical trends and seasonal patterns to produce a forecast. But that forecast is only as good as the data on which it\u2019s based.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n