Arkieva prides itself on providing some of the best in supply chain thought leadership.  Over 300,000 individuals read our blog articles in 2021.  The volatile nature of the supply chain today drove our readers to educate themselves on practical actions they can take to remain competitive.  Granted, the pandemic did create a perfect storm in supply and demand. And this was compounded by issues at every major port around the globe.  You cannot “algorithm yourself” out of these obstacles.  However, you can better understand the drivers of them and act accordingly.  In 2021, we have tried to share our unique perspective on what was happening and its impact to your business.

Although COVID related problems will remain front and center for a while longer, our readers continually returned to the meat and potato themes of demand forecasting and analytics/reporting.  This was hardly a surprise.  We are in a time of significant change as it relates to how we shop, the technology used by business and consumers, and the ability of business to respond.  Making the right choices regarding product consumption and matching inventory will remain top of mind for the foreseeable future.  Central to this is being able to use data from a variety of sources to sense demand trends and act accordingly. We will continue to cover demand throughout the coming year.

Being able to improve forecasts and better predict demand is well and good, but our readers are also concerned with how to package up results in a narrative that validates the investment made to improve supply chain performance.  Too often front-line supply chain professionals get locked in on getting materials in the right places and forget that there are both operational audiences (get it done) and executive audiences (what are we getting for it) that need to quickly understand how things are going. Focusing on only one audience while ignoring the other creates logjams that slows your team’s ability to attain business objectives.

Arkieva also derives benefit from your readership. Your views and comments (keep them coming) help us to better understand the market – influencing our product development plans, what we offer on our website, blog, and event presentations.  The dialog is two way and for that we thank you. 

In case you missed them, here are the top 10 blogs from 2021. Click each title to read the full blog.

  1. What is Demand Forecasting? 
  2. How to Report Forecast Accuracy to Management
  3. What is Bullwhip Effect (and How Do You Minimize It)?
  4. The Basics of the S Curves and Market Adoption of New Products
  5. Why is Demand Forecasting important for Effective Supply Chain Management?
  6. How to Measure BIAS In Forecast
  7. An Infographic on the Top 10 Demand Planning Metrics You Should Have on Your Dashboard
  8. 6 Ways You Can Improve Forecast Accuracy with Demand Sensing
  9. What is Statistical Forecasting? A snowfall-based explanation
  10. What’s the Core Purpose of Supply Chain Management?

We look forward to your thoughts and comments.  If there is a topic you’d like our team to cover, please send an email to jcohan@arkieva.com.  We will strive to address your interest in a future blog.