Our warehouse consultants can help your warehouse get better at forecasting. Forecasting in your warehouse is the process of predicting inventory levels. It’s an invaluable tool to help you manage your inventory levels in a smarter, more proactive way. A few decades ago, the most accurate forecasting was primarily done through gut instinct and maybe some sales records from previous years. Today’s forecasting has become a much more sophisticated process, and it’s one that can save your warehouse a ton of money while also boosting your bottom line and customer service.

Saving You Money

Forecasting helps you know the inventory trends that are happening in your warehouse. With an accurate forecast, you should know how much you need to have available of certain products and when. This eliminates too much wasteful inventory sitting on the shelves as well as helps you fulfill more customer orders and avoid “out of stock” sale losses. Too much inventory sitting around is a waste of your company’s money.

Providing Better Customer Service

Customers want to be able to order what they want when they want it. If your warehouse is out of stock due to poor forecasting, it can result not only in the loss of that customer’s business on that particular order but the loss of their business forever. If they can find it at another store, they are much more likely to order from that store again. Inventory that you don’t have is costing your company money, too.

How to Be Better at Demand Forecasting

  1. Pick the right forecasting method. There are a variety of methods out there, but the key is to pick the one that’s right for your particular business. That might be Simple Moving Average or Exponential Moving Average. Our warehouse consultants can help you determine which one is right for your warehouse.
  2. Make sure you know when there is an exception to a rule. Forecasting is great, but you’ll still need to use some good old-fashioned common sense to really make it work. If there was a spike in demand suddenly, was a large one-time order? Or is it the sign of a growing trend that you need to keep up with? Look for exceptions to avoid costly mistakes.
  3. Automate your forecasting. This is an area where the power of computers can be your best friend. There are a variety of forecasting software packages available, and you may already have one built into your warehouse management software. Know how to use it and how to read the forecasting suggestions to make better inventory decisions for your warehouse.

Ready to improve your warehouse’s forecasting abilities? It only takes one phone call. Get in touch with the RMH Systems team and we’ll help you improve your inventory management so you can cut costs and increase your customer satisfaction along with your bottom line. Our warehouse consultants understand the demands of your warehouse and how to help you meet them. Give us a call or contact us through our website today.