Now in its ninth year, E2open’s 2019 Forecasting and Inventory Benchmark Study is the most consistent, comprehensive and useful study of its kind. The study encompasses over $250 billion in annual sales from global manufacturers across a variety of industries, including consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, animal care, chemicals, and oil and gas.
This public version of the study provides the “state of the nation” for forecasting, inventory and supply performance in North America. By aggregating data in a standard format directly from E2open’s planning applications, the study overcomes the pitfalls of self-reported information and creates a reliable benchmark to help companies in the pursuit of planning excellence.
In addition to network complexity and demand forecasting performance, the study includes customer-facing inventory measures and supply-side insights on manufacturing and distribution performance, reflecting the wide scope of E2open’s holistic and end-to-end planning capabilities.
This study uses data to explore strategies, decisions and implications related to growth, agility to resiliency and profitability. The analysis spans functional supply chain areas including design, plan, make and deliver, and across all planning horizons from strategic to tactical, operational and executional.
While there are dozens of insights and learnings within this study, the top seven takeaways related to growth, agility/resiliency and profitability include: