Compare Demand Planning, Essay Example

Production planning involves the knowledge of the budgeted income statement, budgeted balance sheet, and cash budget. Predicting these values are a necessary way that will allow a company to move forward with their strategic plan. Therefore, there are a variety of planning tools that could be used to accomplish the information contained within each goal. First, a method of forecasting needs to be selected. Among these methods are the moving average, exponential smoothing, and regression analysis. Thus, each of these methods can be used to measure the budgeted income statement, the budgeted balance sheet, and the cash budget (Lorette, 2014).

While the forecasting methods utilized in this situation are helpful to determine the required measurements, it is also essential for the data analysts to have access to the production planning method, reports on trends, and reports on previous company activity. This will allow the forecasted information to be more accurate, which will allow the company to make better decisions. Furthermore, an investment in software programs can make this process easier. For example, the AMT program is ideal for small manufacturing groups, while ViewPoint Logistics performs well for third part firms that need to coordinate a large deal of information (Burnson, 2014).

Ultimately, there are many tools that can be applied to financial planning and forecasting, and these tools can be repeated for the generation of several difference pieces of information. The most essential tool is knowledge of previous company performance, as it will serve as a better starting point for prediction. Thereafter, the success of this process relies primarily upon the software used.

References

Burnson F. (2014). Compare Demand Planning & Forecasting Software. Software Advice. Retrieved from http://www.softwareadvice.com/scm/demand-planning-software-comparison/

Lorette K. (2014). Forecasting Tools Used for Production Planning. Chron. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/forecasting-tools-used-production-planning-4096.html