Enhanced Retail Solutions (ERS) has introduced major enhancements to its demand planning software, including a report that adds Ship Forecast (weekly and monthly views) to Rolling Forecast.
Ship Forecast provides the user with the ability to plan when to ship an order (in addition to the existing functionality that advises when to place an order with the factory). The system makes its calculation and allows the user to edit it by week or month. This gives the user flexibility to shift quantities by date around to accommodate minimums or a more cost-effective inventory flow. Additionally, the user can determine whether to have the system recalculate the ship forecast every time it runs, or to save it and apply their edited ship forecast against a new forecast in future periods.
A new parameter—Ship Lead Time—represents the time it takes for an order to leave the supplier and arrive at the retailer’s store or DC.
New statistics to aid in financial planning include Left to Sell—the remainder of units estimated to sell within the current fiscal year, and Total Year Sales—the sum of actuals and estimated remaining for rest of fiscal year. Current statistics are provided on a rolling 52-week basis.
