In: Operations Management
Forecasting is an art and science of predicting the future event. It is very much required for all types of industrial activity and also for those industries which are in the service sector like healthcare and education.
Demand forecasts form the basis of all supply chain planning. Forecasts should always include the expected value and the forecast error value.
To improve their forecast accuracy and collaboration with their retial partners, Sony integrated their supply chain strategy. As their response to changing market conditions, the Sony Marketing team strengthened their planning, forecasting by upgrading their supply chain management system. Sony Marketing (Japan) was able to achieve this by grafting the sales and operations planning (S&OP) principles into collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment process.
Demand forecasting is necessary to forecast every aspect of business. It is the underlying basis of all the business decisions. It is important for supply chain management to maintain good supplier relations and offer better prices to the customers. By following Supply chain management, Sony was able to connect to customer much better than any other company. With the help of demand forecasting, they were able to forecast as to how much they will be able to earn and the expenses that are going to happen. It is not necesary that these estimates are 100% accurate.
I believe the way they are following is the best one to improve and compete in the market.