- Statistical Modeling
- Forecasting
- Stakeholder Collaboration
Rebuilding Demand Forecasting with a Data-Driven Method
Polymer Production Company (proprietary, name withheld)
The demand forecasting process relied on a manual, judgment-based method with little analytical foundation. Forecasts were unreliable and changed frequently.
Unreliable forecasts cascaded into the entire operation. Production plans changed constantly, raw material orders were disrupted, and the business held excess inventory of both raw materials and finished goods to buffer against uncertainty. The cumulative cost was significant.
I led a structured, data-driven redesign of the forecasting method. Starting with five years of actual shipment data, I segmented customers and products by demand behavior, tested multiple averaging windows, and identified that a six-month rolling average consistently minimized forecast variance. I validated the method on held-out data, incorporated customer-provided signals for exceptions, and applied growth and decline rates for non-stable segments.
Demand accuracy reached and sustained above 90% within three months. Product changeovers on production assets, each costing over $100K, were significantly reduced. This work contributed approximately $1M of a broader $2M savings initiative in material ordering and demand forecasting.
