Demand forecasting & production planning
Demand forecasting & production planning,
without the chaos
We design and tune demand and supply planning backbones that directly drive your factories and co-packers—so you manufacture the right products, in the right quantities, at the right time, using modern forecasting algorithms and AI instead of guesswork.
16-week QuickStart · Demand, production, and S&OP / S&OE specialists
Typical challenges
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Static forecasts that lag reality by months.
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Spreadsheets driving S&OP instead of real systems.
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No single place to see demand, supply, and risk together.
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Production either starving or overproducing the wrong items.
With DataShip
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A consistent planning data model everyone trusts.
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Scenario-ready forecasts tied to real capacity constraints.
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S&OP / S&OE cadence supported by dashboards, not decks.
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Factory schedules that feel stable instead of chaotic.
Built on your existing stack
The reality of demand forecasting & production planning
Most mid-market teams are running "planning" on exports, spreadsheets, and tribal knowledge. That works—until growth, volatility, or new channels break it, and suddenly you are either starving production lines or overproducing the wrong items.
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Different teams using different numbers for demand and inventory.
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No traceability from forecast changes back to drivers and assumptions.
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Planners and production schedulers managing hundreds or thousands of SKUs, lines, and BOMs without strong segmentation.
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S&OP meetings focused on debating numbers instead of decisions and trade-offs at the factory.
How DataShip helps demand forecasting & production planning teams win
We start by stabilizing the data underneath your demand and production plans, then design pragmatic processes that planners and factory schedulers will actually use.
Planning-ready data model
We harmonize product, location, BOM, and calendar dimensions so your demand, manufacturing, and inventory views line up cleanly across systems.
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Segmentation & hierarchy design
ABC/XYZ segmentation, hierarchy design, and planning buckets that match how your business and factories really work.
S&OP / S&OE process design
Define the monthly and weekly cadence, inputs, and outputs so everyone knows how demand and production decisions get made.
Forecasting & AI approach
From robust statistical baselines to more advanced machine-learning and AI-assisted methods—we pick the minimum necessary sophistication, wire it into your tools, and keep it explainable to planners and production managers.
Exception-driven workflows
Planners focus on the 5–10% of items, lines, or locations that actually need attention instead of touching every SKU every week.
Dashboards & scenario views
Power BI and planning-tool views that show demand, supply, capacity, and risk in one place for fast, factory-aware trade-off decisions.
Our 16-week forecasting & planning playbook
A focused program to move from spreadsheet firefighting to a stable, scalable demand and production planning backbone that your factories can trust.
Download the Forecasting & Planning QuickStart Overview
1
Weeks 3–6
Current-state discovery
Map current demand and supply planning processes, data sources, and decision points across forecasting, production planning, and inventory.
4
Weeks 9–12
S&OP, S&OE & scenario templates
Design the S&OP and S&OE cadence, scenario templates, and decision-focused views that connect demand, production, and inventory decisions for leadership.
2
Weeks 3–6
Data & segmentation design
Define the planning data model, SKU/location/line segmentation, and calendar structure across demand, manufacturing, and distribution.
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5
Weeks 12–14
Cutover, training & refinement
Run pilot cycles, tune forecasting and planning rules, and train planners, schedulers, finance, and operations on the new backbone.
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3
Weeks 6–9
Baseline forecasting & overrides
Implement baseline forecasts and override workflows aligned with your chosen tools, with clear links into MRP, MPS, and factory capacity constraints.
6
Weeks 14–16
Continuous monitoring & analytics
Establish ongoing monitoring, variance analysis, and feedback loops so forecasting models and production planning stay aligned as your network and demand change.
Flagship case study (illustrative)
High-growth CPG brand · Demand, production & S&OP stabilization
We start by stabilizing the data underneath your demand and production plans, then design pragmatic processes that planners and factory schedulers will actually use.
The challenge
Multiple teams keeping their own demand numbers in spreadsheets.
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Failed attempts to implement planning modules due to bad data.
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Regular expedites and air freight to patch service issues.
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Factories constantly re-scheduling around late changes​
The DataShip solution
A planning data layer in Azure feeding Power BI, D365, and your production planning/MRP engine.
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SKU/channel segmentation and a forecasting approach tuned to production and capacity realities.
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Monthly S&OP and weekly S&OE with scenario views for promos, launches, and manufacturing constraints.
6–8 point fill-rate lift
On priority customers within the first two planning cycles.
20% fewer expedites
Less fire-drill shipping as plans became more realistic and visible to factories.
Single planning truth
Finance, sales, planning, and operations looking at the same numbers.
Platforms we work with
We meet you where you are—whether that’s planning inside your ERP, a specialist tool, or an analytics stack that feeds your factories and co-packers.
Planning, ERP & MRP
Dynamics 365, NetSuite, Kinaxis, and other mid-market planning and MRP tools.
Collaboration
Teams / email workflows that map to your org structure and factories.
Data & analytics
Azure, Power BI, SQL-based models, and custom planning data marts.
Governance
Ownership, change control, and modeling guidelines so models stay healthy.
Sources & signals
POS, eCommerce, wholesale orders, history, and external demand drivers.
Integrations
API, EDI, and file-based feeds into your planning layer and MRP/production tools.
Why planning & manufacturing teams choose DataShip
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Supply chain first, tooling second—we design around real decisions and constraints.
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We keep forecasting and AI methods as simple as possible—never more complex than planners and production teams can understand and own.
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We make planners, finance, sales, and factory teams all feel heard in the design.
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We build things you can run without us, then stay around as partners if you want.
Engagement options
16-week Planning QuickStart
Stabilize data, define segmentation, and get a workable S&OP / S&OE cadence live—focused on your top products, lines, and channels.
Ongoing Planning Partnership
Continuous tuning of models, process improvements, and new-region, new-plant, or new-channel onboarding as your network evolves.