How Brands are Demand Planning in 2024 with Westernacher's Alexis Lozada

11/21/24 • 25 min

Shelf Life: Expert Voices from the Consumer Goods Industry

In this episode of Shelf Life, we’re joined by Alexis Lozada, Associate Principal for Supply Chain Planning at Westernacher Consulting. With over two decades of experience at companies like Del Monte Foods and SAP, Alexis shares his unique insights into the evolving landscape of supply chain planning. Together, we explore how consumer goods brands are adapting to trends, leveraging technology, and navigating new challenges in demand planning for 2024. Alexis delves into the skills planners need, the importance of scenario planning, and the strategic shifts reshaping the industry.

Key Topics Covered

The Planner of the Future: Why modern planners need a blend of communication, quantitative skills, and a network-based perspective.
Scenario Planning: The pivotal role of scenario analysis in understanding supply chain drivers and managing variability.
CPG Industry Trends: How changing consumer preferences, private labels, and e-commerce are challenging traditional brands.
AI in Supply Chain: Separating hype from reality and understanding the practical applications of AI to enhance supply chain processes.

Key Topics Covered

The Planner of the Future: Why modern planners need a blend of communication, quantitative skills, and a network-based perspective.
Scenario Planning: The pivotal role of scenario analysis in understanding supply chain drivers and managing variability.
CPG Industry Trends: How changing consumer preferences, private labels, and e-commerce are challenging traditional brands.
AI in Supply Chain: Separating hype from reality and understanding the practical applications of AI to enhance supply chain processes.

Previous Episode

Why Data Normalization Costs Consumer Brands Millions in Sales

In this episode, we dive deep into the complexities of data management within the consumer goods industry, focusing on how brands can achieve a comprehensive view of their business by connecting data across a multitude of retail, e-commerce, and supply chain partners.

Hosted by Abby Carruthers, Product Manager at Alloy.ai, the discussion features insights from Manfred Reiche, a subject matter expert in CPG data, and Matthew Nyhus, engineering team lead at Alloy.ai. Together, they break down challenges and solutions related to data normalization—a crucial process for standardizing data from various sources to ensure consistency and comparability.

From understanding product and location data normalization to tackling the intricacies of time and metric alignment, this episode explores how brands can transform their disparate data into actionable insights that drive sales growth and operational efficiency.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

Data normalization is critical for consumer brands to standardize data from various sources, such as retailers, e-commerce platforms, and supply chain partners, into a common language
Integrating and managing data from multiple sources involves significant technical and operational challenges, specialized systems can automatically manage these hurdles
Don’t shy away from the complexities of data normalization - seeking help and leveraging the expertise of others can save significant time and resources while ensuring accurate and actionable insights

Jump into the conversation:

(00:00) Introduction to Manfred and Matthew
(06:05) Using multiple retailers, integrate data sources for consumer insights
(09:55) Technology, people, and processes in master data management for product distribution
(14:47) Matching products from different sources for rich information visibility
(19:21) Consistency in managing changing product data
(21:59) Supply chain management with flexible, tailored database design
(25:24) How automation can reduce workload by 95% for all your teams
(29:45) Knowing servicing locations and translating insights for internal teams
(31:38) Distinguishing between brick-and-mortar and e-commerce sales
(34:17) Understanding net sales across channels, including returns and tax
(40:13) Backend stores metric values
(44:02) Retail data analysis pitfalls
(47:17) Being cautious with IT assumptions

Next Episode

The Rising Cost of Data: Retailers Charging Suppliers for POS Data with Joel Beal, CEO of Alloy AI

Join us as we discuss with Joel Beal, CEO of Alloy.ai, the increasing practice of retailers imposing fees on suppliers for data access. We examine how this shift impacts supplier-retailer relationships and the broader implications for the consumer goods industry. In this episode we explore:

Why Retailers Are Charging for POS Data – Joel Beal explains the factors driving retailers to monetize supplier access to sales and inventory data, from operational costs to new revenue streams.
Impact on CPGs and Consumer Brands – How these fees affect suppliers' ability to make data-driven decisions, manage inventory, and optimize retail partnerships.
Strategies for Navigating Data Paywalls – Joel shares insights on how brands can adapt, including leveraging alternative data sources and negotiating better access terms.
The Future of Retail Data Access – A discussion on whether this trend will continue, what it means for supplier-retailer collaboration, and how technology could change the landscape.