inventory-and-demand-planning

Calculate safety stock and reorder points by applying Z-score math to lead-time variability and forecasting demand. This process classifies SKUs into ABC tiers, sets tiered service levels, and establishes reorder points from forecasted demand plus buffer stock to prevent runouts.

ABC analysis is an inventory stratification method that classifies SKUs into A, B, and C tiers based on velocity and margin. It applies to inventory planning by dictating different review cadences and safety-stock approaches for each tier, ensuring high-value items receive rigorous oversight.

Stop the bullwhip effect from promos by diagnosing promotion-driven demand amplification against your baseline forecast. Adjusting safety stock buffers and reviewing supplier lead times mitigates this variability, preventing excessive overstock and stockouts during promotional events.

Balance inventory turn versus gross margin by scoring whether your turns actually work in your favor relative to holding and markdown economics. This evaluates replenishable and seasonal assortments to identify the highest-leverage next move for stockout and overstock asymmetry.

To generate a demand forecast with P50 and P90 confidence ranges, extract velocity, margin, SKU affinity, and repeat-rate inputs. These data points allow the forecast to build from baseline trend, seasonal, and event components while applying bias correction.

Use tiered service levels for demand planning when managing diverse SKU assortments that require different review cadences. Tiering ensures A-level items get higher service levels and safety stock buffers, while C-level items avoid tying up cash in overstock.