My colleague Charlie Chase, Advisory Industry Consultant and author of the book Demand-Driven Forecasting, has developed a new course for the SAS Business Knowledge Series (BKS): Best Practices in Demand-Driven Forecasting.
The 2-day course will be offered for the first time April 20-21 in Atlanta (and then again September 24-25 in Chicago). From the description:
Demand Forecasting continues to be one of the most sought-after objectives for improving supply-chain management across all industries around the world. Over the past two decades companies have ignored demand forecasting as they have chosen to improve upstream efficiencies related to supply-driven planning activities. Due to recent economic conditions, globalization, and market dynamics, companies are realizing that demand forecasting and planning affects almost every aspect of the supply chain. Also, companies have learned that focusing exclusively on supply is a receipt for failure. As a result, there is a renewed focus on improving the accuracy of their demand response. This course provides a structured framework to transition companies from being supply-driven to becoming demand-driven with an emphasis on customer excellence, rather than operation excellence.
Attendees receive a complimentary copy of Demand-Driven Forecasting.
Stick around after the Atlanta course to attend the IBF conference on Predictive Business Analytics, where Charlie will be co-presenting with Chad Schumacher of Kellogg's on the topic of Using Multitiered Causal Analysis. (Meantime, download the whitepaper Using Multitiered Causal Analysis to Improve Demand Forecasts and Optimize Marketing Strategy).
Also, be on the lookout for Charlie's new blog which will be starting soon. (A link will be provided when available.)
Find more information about the course in Maggie Miller's interview, "6 Questions with Forecasting Expert Charlie Chase."
More Learning Options from the SAS Business Knowledge Series
A recent BFD post characterized "Offensive vs. Defensive Forecasting," and Charlie's course covers the offensive side. But the BKS also covers the defensive side of forecasting in the course Forecast Value Added Analysis that will be offered over the web on the afternoons of May 7-8, and again September 28-29.
My colleague Chip Wells (co-author of Applied Data Mining for Forecasting Using SAS) has expanded my 3-hour FVA workshop into two half-day sessions, providing additional content, exercises, and examples. Chip brings a strong statistical and data mining background to the topic of FVA, as well as considerable experience teaching and consulting with SAS forecasting customers. For anyone seeking to expand their knowledge of FVA analysis, this is a great way to do so from the comfort of your office. (Get started by downloading the whitepaper Forecast Value Added Analysis: Step-by-Step.)
