{"id":27019,"date":"2020-10-16T13:18:48","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T17:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stageres.blueridgeglobal.com\/?p=27019"},"modified":"2025-09-15T19:54:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T23:54:45","slug":"lets-talk-forecast-accuracy-the-roi-of-forecasting-software-quantified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/blog\/lets-talk-forecast-accuracy-the-roi-of-forecasting-software-quantified\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Talk Demand Forecast Accuracy: The ROI of Supply Chain Forecasting Software, Quantified"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-27022\" src=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/target.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/target.png 860w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/target-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/target-768x513.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/>Forecast Accuracy\u2026 Many companies underestimate the power of getting it right. Even more concerning is the fact that most believe the costs attached to inaccuracies are a necessary evil of the business.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Untrue. If that\u2019s the case, then we need to do a better job at quantifying the <a href=\"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/2018\/07\/12\/how-much-does-forecasting-software-cost\/\">ROI of forecasting software<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>These applications drive deep forecast accuracy by translating the forecast into meaningful actions in your daily demand planning process. In a nutshell, forecasting software empowers companies to dramatically <a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/inventory-optimization\/overstock\/\">decrease inventory<\/a> and operating costs, increase service and sales, improve cash flow and ROI, and increase pre-tax profitability.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3>What is the ROI of forecasting software?<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Here are some <a href=\"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/2018\/07\/12\/how-much-does-forecasting-software-cost\/\">solid numbers<\/a> from the Institute of Business Forecasting (IBF) to convince you that <a href=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/product\/demand-planning\/\">forecasting software<\/a> is highly effective at driving both indirect and hard cost savings, as well as revenue improvements:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li>A 15% forecast accuracy improvement will deliver a 3% or higher pre-tax improvement<\/li>\r\n<li>Even a one-percentage point improvement in under-forecasting error at a $50 million turnover company gives a saving of as much as $1.52 million<\/li>\r\n<li>And for the same amount of improvement in over-forecasting, $1.28 million<\/li>\r\n<li>Forecast accuracy can translate to increased revenue of 0.5% to 3% with improved inventory availability or demand shaping capabilities<\/li>\r\n<li>Total annual direct material purchase, along with logistics related expenses arising from demand variability, can see direct improvements of 3% to 5%<\/li>\r\n<li>Firms can also benefit from a 20% reduction in airfreight costs<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3>When Will You See Results?<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The average forecast management technology should reasonably have a payback in less than 24 months, with many showing ROI in under 18 months. At Blue Ridge, however, it is much sooner \u2013 typically in <strong>under 90 days.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Our partnerships, integrations and proactive LifeLine services team are set up to accelerate time-to-value \u2013 and continuously improve results for the lifetime of the solution.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>What\u2019s the potential for your business? Use this nifty <a href=\"https:\/\/ibf.org\/knowledge\/calculator\/under\">Forecast Error Calculator<\/a> to calculate how much money you will save by reducing forecast error.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3>Popular Does Not Mean Best<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Before closing, I do need to warn you\u2026<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>When it comes to forecasting software, note that \u2018popular\u2019 doesn\u2019t always equate to \u2018quality\u2019. An ERP or an advanced planning system that claims to do it all may not have the forecasting tools you need.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>\u201cThere are plenty of specialized and lesser-known products that deliver brilliant results\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/author\/ericwilson\/\">Eric Wilson<\/a>, author and Certified Professional Forecast<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Many companies unknowingly push off their forecasting software implementation until after their ERP solution is in place. There\u2019s no reason to wait\u2026 Blue Ridge has actually helped our customers use the savings from implementing our platform to fund their ERP!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Related post:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/who-wants-a-free-wms-or-erp-solution\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-19662\" src=\"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/free-erp.png\" alt=\"who-wants-a-free-erp-or-wms-solution\" width=\"500\" height=\"503\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Forecast Accuracy\u2026 Many companies underestimate the power of getting it right. Even more concerning is the fact that most believe the costs attached to inaccuracies are a necessary evil of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":28142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[52,49],"scp_topic":[185],"sector":[180],"technology":[176],"class_list":{"0":"post-27019","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blog","8":"tag-change-management-adoption","9":"tag-supply-chain-planning","10":"industry-generic","11":"scp_topic-generic","12":"sector-generic","13":"technology-demand-forecasting"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27019"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42800,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27019\/revisions\/42800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27019"},{"taxonomy":"scp_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scp_topic?post=27019"},{"taxonomy":"sector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sector?post=27019"},{"taxonomy":"technology","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/technology?post=27019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}