Blue Agave's Demand Management applications help product planners and manufacturing managers ensure that their organization's production satisfies retail consumer demand. These predictive applications analyze orders, shipments, production plans, on-hand inventory, and retail POS data to identify, anticipate, and guide resolution of operating issues — all before service and revenue are impacted.

Applications include:

• Forecast Variance
  • Delivers early indication that internal forecasts will be higher or lower than total demand from the retail channel. Identifies specific issues by product, enabling teams to take action before order commitments are impacted or excess inventory is created.
• Total Pipeline Supply Excess
  • Anticipates situations in which in-network orders and inventory greatly exceed store-level demand over a set period of time. Enables teams to optimally allocate inventory throughout the network and reduce excess situations before excesses reach the store.
• Total Pipeline Supply Shortfall
  • Anticipates situations in which in-network orders and inventory will fall short of store-level demand within a set period of time. With early identification of network shortfalls, teams can prevent stock-outs at the store and distribution center and maintain adequate TPS to support store sales.
• Demand Trend
  • Anticipates situations in which demand is trending higher or lower than expected during a current period as compared to a previous period. Providing a "Same Store Sales" metric, this application delivers leading indicators of possible performance issues with current promotions, forecasts, or customer-affecting events.
• Promotion Performance
  • Identifies and tracks gross promotional lift by item across all stores throughout an organization's retail channels. Delivers early insight into the success or failure of promotions, providing teams with the facts they need to make adjustments to ensure that production appropriately supports demand.
• Finished Goods Stock-out
  • Anticipates and identifies stock-out situations that will impact an organization's ability to fulfill orders and meet demand. With early indication of impending stock-outs, teams can adjust their commitments to customers and maintain service levels.