5 Hidden Benefits of Customer Collaboration

Since inventory is typically an organization’s largest and most expensive asset, it is in your best interest to create as accurate a forecast as possible. Working with your customer to create a customer collaborative forecast can provide a number of benefits. We’ve listed 5 of the top “hidden benefits” below:

1. Build a Better Forecast
   Oftentimes the customer’s input regarding production schedules, knowledge of special events/promotions, or estimates of future usage can be even more useful input than historical usage when developing a forecast. After all, who knows more about the customer’s future plans than the customer?

2. Set Your Company Apart from Other Vendors
   Building a relationship with your customer can often set you apart from your competitors and help win more business.

3. Manage Change
   If you have an item or a group of items that are customer-dominated, and you lose that customer, the forecast needs to exclude any expected sales from that customer. Using a collaborative forecast makes it easy to remove that customer’s usage, ensuring that you are buying only what is truly needed.

4. Gain Visibility to the Source of Your Orders
   How is your forecast being consumed? Gain visibility to the impact of large customer orders on specific SKUs.

5. See How Helpful the Customer’s Input is at a Glance
   Visibility to specific customers’ orders enables you to discuss their fill rates with them monthly, and compare their previous month’s forecast to their actual consumption by SKU.

Find out more about how Absolute Value Demand Planning can help your company optimize its inventory.