Glob­al Retail Com­pa­ny Improves Fore­cast­ing and Increas­es Rev­enue with Sup­ply Chain Ana­lyt­ics Solution

The Problem

# Ineffective Demand Forecasting Restraining Revenue Potential

The forecasting system at a global retail company was not providing accurate information in a quantity that was meaningful for inventory management to forecast demand in an effective and timely manner. The company needed to improve the quality of forecasting accuracy through better-informed inventory management to increase sales and enable subsequent revenue opportunities. Complete development and testing of new algorithms and parameters in the new forecasting system was required prior to implementation.

The Approach

# Design, Build, and Onboard a Forecasting Tool for Global Use

Propeller partnered with company leadership to establish a two-pronged approach: the design and construction of a new forecasting tool and the ongoing project and change management to roll the system out to users including inventory planners and retail distribution centers across the globe. The team collaborated with key stakeholders to determine functional requirements and utilized an Agile framework to lead a team of data scientists in iteratively building, testing, and fine-tuning the new system. Stakeholders were consistently engaged throughout the design, testing, and implementation process to ensure alignment with business priorities and timelines. This created high confidence among stakeholders and ensured a seamless adoption of the application by business users.

# Services Provided

• Business - Data Alignment
• Data collection process refinement
• Visualization & Reporting
• Data Strategy
• Data Quality and Readiness - cleansing
• Data & Analytics Workflow Management
• Business Infrastructure & Tools
• Project Management

Value Delivered

# Improved Accuracy and Insights for Increased Revenue

The team was able to develop a new analytics tool with improved forecasting capabilities without disrupting the company’s inventory planning timelines, while consistently demonstrating value to stakeholders throughout the process. This advance in analytics capabilities increased inventory managers’ confidence when making data-driven demand-planning decisions and improved the accuracy of their work, resulting in a reduction in misorders and production waste, improved insights into customer purchasing behaviors, and a $380M projected increase in US sales over a 12-month period.