Background: An established South African fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturer, Company A, sought to address an underperforming supply chain through an attempt to improve demand planning accuracy. A need arose within the organisation for an assessment of the impact of this intervention. A literature gap was also identified, taking into account the limited number of relevant case studies that exist in academic literature. Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to establish whether or not the demand planning interventions of Company A had a positive impact on the performance of the supply chain under investigation. In support of this primary objective, the secondary objectives were to determine and compare the pre- and post-intervention demand planning activities and performance of Company A. Method: A case study research design was used focusing on Company A. The researcher sourced evidence through a secondary quantitative data analysis and primary data collection through interviews with personnel directly involved in the demand planning process at Company A. Results: From mean absolute percentage error calculations, it was found that the focal company’s demand planning process intervention had reduced the errors in demand forecasting for all classifications of stock keeping units analysed. Conclusion: The demand planning interventions applied by Company A had a positive impact on the overall supply chain performance. A positive relationship was found between a well-informed, team-based and technology-assisted approach to demand planning and improved forecasting accuracy within an FMCG company.

中文翻译：

---

需求计划中的预测准确性：快速发展的消费品案例研究

背景：一家成熟的南非快速消费品（FMCG）制造商A公司试图通过提高需求计划的准确性来解决表现不佳的供应链。组织内需要评估此干预措施的影响。考虑到学术文献中存在的相关案例研究数量有限，因此还发现了文献空白。目标：这项研究的主要目的是确定甲公司的需求计划干预措施是否对所调查的供应链绩效产生积极影响。为了支持该主要目标，次要目标是确定和比较干预前后的需求计划活动和公司A的绩效。方法：使用了针对A公司的案例研究设计。研究人员通过二次定量数据分析和通过与直接参与A公司需求计划过程的人员进行访谈而收集的主要数据来获取证据。结果：从平均绝对百分比误差计算中，结果发现，焦点公司的需求计划流程干预已减少了所分析的所有库存单位类别的需求预测中的误差。结论：甲公司采用的需求计划干预措施对整个供应链绩效产生了积极影响。在快速消费品公司内部，消息灵通，基于团队和技术辅助的方法来进行需求计划与提高预测准确性之间发现了积极的关系。研究人员通过二次定量数据分析和通过与直接参与甲公司需求计划过程的人员进行访谈收集主要数据来获取证据。结果：从平均绝对百分比误差计算中，发现重点公司的需求计划过程干预具有减少了对所有已分析存货单位分类的需求预测中的误差。结论：甲公司采用的需求计划干预措施对整个供应链绩效产生了积极影响。在快速消费品公司内部，消息灵通，基于团队和技术辅助的方法来进行需求计划与提高预测准确性之间发现了积极的关系。研究人员通过二次定量数据分析和通过与直接参与甲公司需求计划过程的人员进行访谈收集主要数据来获取证据。结果：从平均绝对百分比误差计算中，发现重点公司的需求计划过程干预具有减少了对所有已分析存货单位分类的需求预测中的误差。结论：甲公司采用的需求计划干预措施对整个供应链绩效产生了积极影响。在快速消费品公司内部，消息灵通，基于团队和技术辅助的方法来进行需求计划与提高预测准确性之间发现了积极的关系。