The Strategic Role of Demand Management in Supply Chains.

Demand management is a key capability in supply chain. Forecasting, and sales & operations planning (S&OP) are discussed within a demand-supply integration framework.

Demand management is the process of forecasting, analyzing, and shaping the demand for a company’s products or services in order to optimize the utilization of resources and minimize costs. It involves a range of activities and strategies that are designed to align the demand for a company’s products or services with its supply capabilities, and to ensure that the right products or services are available to meet the needs of customers at the right time and in the right place.

Demand management involves a number of key activities, including:

Demand forecasting: This involves predicting the future demand for a company’s products or services based on historical data, market trends, and other relevant factors.
Demand planning: This involves creating a plan to meet the expected demand for a company’s products or services, including determining the appropriate levels of production, inventory, and capacity.
Demand shaping: This involves implementing strategies to influence the demand for a company’s products or services, such as through marketing and pricing initiatives.
Demand management: This involves monitoring and managing the demand for a company’s products or services in real-time, and making adjustments as needed to ensure that demand is aligned with supply capabilities.

Overall, demand management is an important aspect of supply chain management, and it is critical for ensuring that a company is able to meet the needs of its customers while minimizing costs and maximizing efficiency.

Supply and Demand Quotes

I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.” ~Jeff Bezos
“Don’t let the excess of demand make you loose your command and get you further from what you’ve planned.” ~Ana Claudia Antunes
“Supply always comes on the heels of demand.” ~Robert Collier
The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes (the “vital few”). Other names for this principle are the 80/20 rule, the law of the vital few, or the principle of factor sparsity. ~Wikipedia.org
“Eighty-five percent of the reasons for failure are deficiencies in the systems and process rather than the employee. The role of management is to change the process rather than badgering individuals to do better.” ~W. Edwards Deming
“A shortage is a sign that somebody is keeping the price artificially lower than it would if supply and demand were allowed to operate freely.” ~Thomas Sowell
“The equilibrium between supply and demand is achieved only through a reaction against the upsetting of the equilibrium.
David Harvey
Demand management is a planning methodology used to forecast, plan for and manage the demand for products and services. This can be at macro-levels as in economics and at micro-levels within individual organizations. ~Wikipedia.org
“The digital supply chain has the potential to completely change supply chain. However, do your due diligence before rushing in.” ~Dave Waters.