Consumption-Based Forecasting and Planning

CHAPTER 1The Digital Economy and Unexpected Disruptions

We are experiencing unprecedented and unpredictable times where disruption has been felt globally by many companies, particularly retailers and consumer goods companies. The digital economy has had an impact on almost every aspect of our lives from banking and shopping to communication and learning. This incredible progress driven by digital technologies is affecting the world we live in by improving our lives, but also creating new challenges. The most successful organizations get ahead of an unpredictable future by being prepared for the unknown. There have been significant developments in the evolution of various disruptive technologies over the past two decades and this development brings new opportunities, both in terms of cost savings and overall value creation. The benefits of IoT, big data, advanced analytics, AI/machine learning, cloud computing, and other advanced technologies collectively can make an impact that companies can leverage to digitize their supply chains to address business challenges.

The world is changing at an accelerated pace and companies are seeing that the biggest benefits of digitization come from the ability to move faster, adapt quickly to disruptions, anticipate changes, and automatically execute information faster by managing large volumes of data more effectively—all resulting in speed of innovation and execution of those changes. As a result, companies are looking for real-time data ...