Current replenishment systems no longer meet retailer's needs
Many of today’s supply chain solutions were designed and built in the 1980s and 90s, and are showing their age through serious limitations when it comes to solving critical retail needs. Many supply chain packages will offer “basic” forecasting and replenishment capabilities, but will struggle to manage more complex merchandise, such as seasonal, short life cycle, promoted, intermittent demand, and new items. Current systems' limitations include:
Lack of rich forecasting capability - Many supply chain forecasting tools evolved from the manufacturing and CPG worlds, where items are basic in nature and their demand is relatively constant. The ability to handle the complexities of retail merchandise is very limited.
Limited scalability - Today's solutions are challenged to meet the scale requirements of retail's multi-channel and multi-echelon needs.
Limited flexibility - Rigid applications assume retailers will adapt their processes to their replenishment systems, as opposed to those systems adapting to the retailer's processes.
Big Bang approach - Many of today's solutions require a "rip and replace" of existing infrastructure, which is risky and involves a large investment of resources and time that most retailers simply do not or cannot entertain.
Predictix is designed from the ground up to solve today's (and tomorrow's) supply chain and inventory challenges
In contrast with last-generation systems, Predictix takes a holistic approach to solving the supply chain and inventory problem for retailers, wholesalers, and brands. Predictix, through our state of the art, cloud based, science platform, can enable a powerful demand planning platform that can then be extended into many more areas within the broader supply chain.
We also believe the replenishment journey should tackle individual challenges in a manageable, phased approach where each stage delivers significant value in a short timeframe and builds on earlier phases. One variation of such a journey might look like this:
1. Start with a solid demand plan for all your merchandise. This is the basis for all future decisions, whether in replenishment, or pricing, or planning, or assortments.
2. Add specific replenishment and inventory optimization components into the equation. These can be standalone modules or work in conjunction with a company's current inventory/replenishment systems.
3. Add workflow and visibility components that can be configured to meet the needs of the company's user community.
The combination of these capabilities, delivered through a manageable, prioritized, and phased approach, will enable a truly end-to-end, multi-echelon supply chain planning process across the organization.
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