RedPrairie , along with Factory 2 Shelf’s André Martin and Retail Pipeline’s Darryl Landvater, have announced an exclusive global joint venture which will add E²e Flowcasting to the RedPrairie solution suite.
E²e Flowcasting leverages point-of-sale (POS) store data to create a model of the business. Flowcasting reports encompass product demand, transportation, financial projections and capacity plans, which represent a common set of plans that all trading partners can agree upon. Flowcasting has already been used with retail and consumer goods manufacturers.
Following are the benefits of the patented E²e Flowcasting solution:
Improved visibility for manufacturers: Manufacturers receive an accurate picture of future customer demand allowing them to reduce safety stock levels and improve manufacturing productivity. Demonstrated results include the ability to project retailer orders one month into the future with an average error of two to three days.
Reduced out-of-stocks and increased sales: If POS sales on any given day are higher than expected the chain reaction of demand automatically reacts. Current Flowcasting users have found a dramatic increase in forecast accuracy and significant reductions in out-of-stock merchandise.
Enhanced and improved collaborative business processes: Trading partners are able to achieve a high level of collaboration enabling them to meet common goals and objectives, analyse future promotions and changes in display settings, all of which can result in a 30% improvement in labour productivity.
According to Mike Mayoras, CEO, RedPrairie, for retailing to reinvent itself, it needs a different approach to inventory management. The RedPrairie Collaborative Flowcasting Group and the E²e Flowcasting solution provide retail supply chains the ability to rethink their merchandising and inventory strategies based on customer demand, not projected forecasts.
Retailers, operations executives, brand category managers, and retail suppliers can benefit from E²e Flowcasting.