Belmont, Mass.—Sept. 12, 2013—Smart Software, Inc., a provider of demand forecasting, planning and inventory optimization solutions, announced that Aluprint S.A., a subsidiary of Constantia based in San Luis Potosi & Monterrey, Mexico, purchased its flagship product, SmartForecasts. Aluprint manufactures and sells metallic paper and printed packaging materials for the consumer products industry, and has two factories, two distribution centers and a warehouse in Mexico. Grupo de Outsourcing Tecnologico, S.A. (GOTSA), Smart’s reseller in Mexico and Latin America, made the sale.
In a quest to produce more accurate forecasts for its products, Aluprint evaluated forecasting solutions and chose SmartForecasts with its patented intermittent demand forecasting technology to be the heart of its sales and operations planning (S&OP) process. Not only was SmartForecasts more accurate, but it also solved a major planning problem for the company. About 65 percent of Aluprint’s 4,000 SKUs consist of hard-to-forecast intermittent demand and are only needed sporadically, but have spikes in usage that occur randomly. SmartForecasts enable Aluprint to accurately forecast intermittent demand, as well as generate accurate, service level-driven inventory stocking estimates over a replenishment lead time.
GOTSA was instrumental in helping Aluprint implement SmartForecasts, and integrate its forecasts and inventory stocking recommendations with SAP by developing a universal interface to the SAP system and instituting processes for cleansing demand data.
Aluprint has three goals for SmartForecasts:
- First, it wants a better view of the future through its S&OP process and more accurate forecasts are a vital component of the process.
- Second, the company needs a solution that can easily integrate with its SAP ERP system.
- Third, it must be able to collaborate with customers and suppliers to produce accurate forecasts.
SmartForecasts helps demand planners handle sales seasonality, promotions, new and aging products, multi-dimensional hierarchies, and intermittently demanded service parts and capital goods items. It also provides inventory managers with accurate estimates of the optimal inventory and safety stock required to meet future orders and achieve desired service levels. It integrates with Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and IBM DB2, and virtually any ERP or supply chain planning system, including solutions from SAP, Microsoft, Sage and Epicor.
