Revenue grew; contribution weakened
- Evidence or gap
- Discount and return effects reconciled
- Action owner
- Merchandising reviews the offer
Supply chain & fulfillment
Forecast demand and prioritize replenishment.
Stock decisions are based on stale forecasts or disconnected spreadsheets.
TriggerPlanning cadence or inventory-cover threshold.
| Planning signal | Current view | Proposed response |
|---|---|---|
| Washable tote · navy | 20 available; 60 expected demand before the next receipt; buffer target 10 | Propose 50 units, subject to supplier packs and cash approval |
| Supplier lead time | Receipt moves from 14 to 21 days | Recalculate demand over the longer window and raise a stockout exception |
| Cash requirement | 50 units × $32 landed cost = $1,600 | Show the commitment before the planner approves the order |
Initial scenario: a 14-day receipt window, no reserved units or confirmed inbound stock. The later receipt triggers a new forecast; supplier minimums and budget checks still apply.
What you getDemand forecasts, reorder proposals and cash requirements kept current as trading and supply change.
Discuss this use case How it works
Led by operators with 15+ years building commerce products, teams and systems. About us
Today
Planners copy sales and stock into spreadsheets, then chase supplier dates before deciding what to buy.
With this in place
A current demand and stock view recalculates proposed orders when sales, receipts or lead times change. Planners review the exceptions and approve commitments.
Who does what, step by step.
Your team
Planners choose service and cash targets, challenge assumptions and approve purchase commitments.
AI
AI explains forecast changes and supplier exceptions using the source evidence.
Automation
Scheduled integrations refresh stock and receipts. Forecasting models estimate demand; explicit rules size proposed orders.
Step 1: Automation
Refresh the planning signals
Bring confirmed sales, available stock and inbound dates into the planning view; flag missing or stale inputs.
Step 2: Automation
Forecast demand and stock cover
Use a statistical forecasting model with seasonality and known events. Calculate cover and projected stockouts against the agreed lead time.
Step 3: Automation
Prepare constrained reorder proposals
Apply pack sizes, minimum orders and cash limits to suggested quantities. Show the assumptions and trade-offs.
Step 4: AI
Explain the exceptions
Use AI to summarize material changes and the source evidence behind them, including uncertainty and conflicting supplier information.
Step 5: Your team
Approve and track the order
A planner approves or changes the proposal. The integration creates a draft purchase order and tracks receipts against the plan.
Guardrails
- Forecast ranges and missing demand signals remain visible; a forecast is not a purchase commitment.
- Pack sizes, supplier minimums and cash constraints are applied by explicit planning rules.
- Authorized planners approve purchasing; approved order identifiers prevent duplicate submissions.
What a first project includes.
A bounded first build around your systems and team. We agree the scope, fee and baseline before we start.
We build
- A demand and replenishment model connected to sales, inventory and purchasing systems
- A review screen showing cover, reorder proposals, cash requirements and exceptions
- Approved purchase-order handoffs and a recurring forecast-quality review
We start from
- Sales history, stock on hand, reserved units and confirmed inbound receipts
- Supplier lead times, minimum orders, pack sizes and landed costs
- Promotion plans, service targets, purchasing limits and available cash
From your team
- Owner
- Inventory Lead
- Supply Chain Lead
- Operations Lead
- Involves
- Supply chain
- Planning
- Fulfillment
- Finance
- Merchandising
- Supplier or logistics partners
Access to these systems and real examples to test against.
Adapts to
- Supplier-led production
- Own manufacturing
- Partner fulfillment
- Internal fulfillment
We’d measure
- Forecast error and bias by comparable product group
- Stock availability, aged stock and inventory cover
- Working capital committed and planner review time
Baselines agreed before we build.
Questions teams ask.
- Do we need to replace our current tools?
Usually not. We start with the systems you already use and build only what’s missing.
Typical connections: ERP, inventory and order systems, supplier portals, 3PLs and carriers.
- Who owns it once it’s running?
Your team does. You own the agreed deliverables under the engagement terms, with documentation and training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your inventory lead, supply chain lead or operations lead.
Ongoing support is optional and agreed separately.
- How do we get started?
If the problem and scope are already clear, we can scope this build directly. If you’re weighing it against other priorities, start with Discovery & Action Plan.
Its fee is credited in full if we build the recommended work.
How discovery works
Often paired with.
Part of Commercial and supply planning
- Merchandising & commercial planning
Margin-aware markdowns
Broad discounts clear stock without showing the margin trade-off.
SKU-level markdown scenarios with stock, demand and contribution trade-offs, followed by approved price updates.
- Finance & business intelligence
The weekly trading brief
Leaders receive dashboards but still have to assemble the narrative and next steps.
A sourced trading brief with decisions, action owners and follow-through.
- Merchandising & commercial planning
Promotion orchestration
Offer details and dependencies diverge across teams and channels.
Connected offer rules, briefs and channel tasks that respond to changes and keep approval status visible.
More connected work
Buy the right stock at the right time. Start with one product group.
Prefer to start with discovery?
We reply within one business day.