Some Insights Into Effective Demand Planning

Abstract

Demand planning enables organizations to manage their and their partner supply chain processes. We introduce and evaluate the demand planning process, including the aspects of goal formulation, forecasting techniques, information source, forecasting and decision making, and synchronizing supply with demand. We, especially, show its applicability and evaluation in a Vietnamese coffee supply chain context, which also provides insights for general supply chain and organizational practices, especially in emerging economies. We find that the demand planning relates strongly to cost and delivery performance. There is greater evidence that demand planning is not only valuable but has multiple important dimensions that managers and organizations need to be concerned within its implementation. We provide some practical insights into the design of demand planning as well as issues that organizations may face.