Key Responsibilities
- Develop and update short, medium, and long-term statistical demand forecasting models.
- Lead collaborative S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning) meetings with Sales, Trade Marketing, and Marketing teams.
- Analyze and explain forecast deviations using KPIs such as Forecast Accuracy, WAPE, BIAS, and MPE.
- Identify sales risks and opportunities, adjusting the demand plan for new product introductions (NPI) and promotions.
- Ensure alignment of the demand plan with financial planning and production or procurement capacity.
Requirements & Skills
Day in the Life
A demand planning analyst starts the day by reviewing yesterday's sales performance, comparing actual billing data against the forecast. They adjust statistical models to incorporate last-minute market dynamics and investigate anomalous sales spikes. A significant part of the day is spent in cross-functional collaboration: aligning promotional assumptions with trade marketing, negotiating expected volumes with sales, and sharing supply-chain impacts with supply planning. The day ends with updating KPI dashboards and refining scenario models for the upcoming S&OP cycle meetings.
Career Path
Top Tools
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main difference between Demand Planning and Supply Planning?
Demand Planning focuses on forecasting what the market will purchase (external-facing), whereas Supply Planning focuses on ensuring the company has the inventory, raw materials, and production capacity to meet that forecasted demand (internal-facing).
Why is the BIAS metric as important as Forecast Accuracy?
While accuracy measures the magnitude of the error, BIAS identifies its direction. A consistently positive BIAS indicates the company is over-forecasting (generating excess inventory); a negative BIAS indicates systematic under-forecasting (causing stockouts and lost sales). Tracking BIAS helps identify systematic behavioral flaws in the forecasting process.