Teradata's Newest Demand Chain Management Solution Helps Retailers Increase Revenue by Optimizing Inventory Levels Based on Customer Demand Forecasting

TORONTO, Aug. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC), the analytic data platforms, marketing applications and services company, today announced general availability of the newest version of Teradata Demand Chain Management, software that accurately forecasts consumer demand and synchronizes retailers' ability to meet it -- by channel -- by right-sizing inventory requirements across even the most complex supply chains. Teradata also announced availability of Teradata Demand Chain Management in the Cloud, a deployment option that enables data-driven retailers to take advantage of the solution's forecast accuracy sooner, and without adding additional infrastructure.

Data-Driven Demand Forecasting
Today's consumers expect to find the products they are looking for with ease, and to have sufficient choices regarding which shopping channel or purchasing method to use.  With Teradata Demand Chain Management retailers can be certain they'll have the right amount of product available for purchase wherever and whenever consumers expect it.  As a data-driven forecasting, replenishment and allocation solution, Teradata Demand Chain Management gives businesses control over a vast network of paths between stores, distribution centers and vendors, while helping to minimize the total annual cost of their supply network. Support for multi-echelon supply chains enables retailers to optimize their supply chains and inventory levels without risking lost sales due to out-of-stocks.

Proven benefits to businesses using Teradata Demand Chain Management include increased customer satisfaction and retention; increased sales; increased margins; and improved labor productivity and execution.  Because retailers deal with large volumes of customers, transactions, products and stores, even small improvements in forecast accuracy can yield higher sales and greater inventory productivity.  One North American specialty retailer increased inventory productivity 28 percent and saw gross margins improve by 310 basis points.  Another, a luxury items retailer, experienced similar results, increasing overall sales 6.4 percent and gross margins by 350 basis points.  

Alex Jonker, board member, Supply Chain & Ecommerce, with Hema, a Dutch non-food retail chain said, "For me, being a data-driven business means having the ability to forecast and replenish according to actual customer shopping patterns. Teradata Demand Chain Management is helping us achieve higher customer service levels and reduce inventory." (Hema was originally an acronym for Hollandsche Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam, "Dutch Standard Prices Company Amsterdam.")

According to Retail Systems Research's "Merchandising Today" Benchmark Report (September 2013), which provides insight into business and technology challenges facing the retail industry, "Retail forecasting has become a must-have technology. Unstable economic conditions create a compelling need for a single demand forecast across the board: pre-season, in-season, and every day for pricing and assortment modeling. This trend continues from last year. Overall it remains a critical factor to retailing success."

"A focus on omni-channel retailing is imperative today, and the most critical component for retailers is to have an accurate view of demand across all sales channels.  Teradata Demand Chain Management, on premise or in the cloud, delivers the most accurate forecast for the retail industry where it counts, at whatever point of purchase suits the customer," said Mardie Noble, vice president, Demand Chain Management Product Strategy & Engineering for Teradata. 

Teradata Demand Chain Management links consumer demand with inventory levels and sales forecasts, by item, by location, weekly, and daily. These forecasts recognize historical performance, factor in seasonality, and respond automatically to the latest buying patterns and trends. The forecast is then combined with inventory and replenishment strategies to generate a suggested order to meet projected customer demand.  New in this latest release of Teradata Demand Chain Management are:

• Improved multi-echelon replenishment capability, supporting both:
  • Time-phased automated replenishment and allocation for multiple distribution center order levels, and,
  • Flow-through distribution capabilities for replenishment and allocation.
• Improved Promotional Forecasting for slow-selling SKUs.
• Ability to manage the solution at an aggregate level while operations are being performed at the store/SKU level.
• Re-architected Order Review interface to support custom views for store-level users.
• New Analytic Reporting Framework to enable users to export data into a reporting and analysis framework that supports further analysis.
• A cloud deployment option, which permits the solution to run in the Teradata Cloud, leveraging Teradata Professional Services expertise. 

To learn more about Teradata Demand Chain Management, please visit the Teradata website.   

About Teradata 
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SOURCE Teradata