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Nicolas Vandeput

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Demand Forecasting Best Practices

Demand Forecasting Best Practices

Demand Forecasting Best Practices teaches you to optimize demand planning to deliver a more effective supply chain.

2023

Nicolas Vandeput

Nicolas Vandeput

Stories

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Nicolas Vandeput

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Jul 22, 2024

Demand Planners Rulebook

What should demand planners do and not do? First, we emphasize critical practices for demand planning (viewing forecasting as an…

Demand Planners Rulebook

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Nicolas Vandeput

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Jul 5, 2019

Forecast KPI: RMSE, MAE, MAPE & Bias

The article below is an extract from my book Data Science for Supply Chain Forecast, available here. You can find my other articles here:

Forecast KPI: RMSE, MAE, MAPE & Bias

Nicolas Vandeput

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6d ago

Should You Forecast Demand per Customer? (Usually Not)

Sooner or later, someone asks, “Can we forecast demand per customer?” It usually comes from sales or finance, and it sounds perfectly…

Should You Forecast Demand per Customer? (Usually Not)

Nicolas Vandeput

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May 11

Outgrowing the Safety Stock Formula

The classical safety stock formula, Ss = zσ√(L + R), which most software vendors and consultants use, is based on multiple assumptions and…

Outgrowing the Safety Stock Formula

Nicolas Vandeput

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Mar 30

Cumulative and Lag-1 Forecasts are the Most Important

Most supply chain leaders analyze forecasting accuracy over a single (or just a few) lags. This article explains why cumulative forecasting…

Cumulative and Lag-1 Forecasts are the Most Important

Nicolas Vandeput

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Mar 23

Forecasting Variability: Causes, Solutions, and Why It (doesn’t) Matter

Earlier in 2025, we started measuring forecasting variability (or stability) in our projects at SupChains. As we discussed the subject…

Forecasting Variability: Causes, Solutions, and Why It (doesn’t) Matter

Nicolas Vandeput

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Mar 11

Integrating Machine Learning in Demand Planning: Where Humans Still Matter

Machine learning (ML) is transforming the role of demand planners. Moving them away from mechanical tasks focused on adjusting forecasts to…

Integrating Machine Learning in Demand Planning: Where Humans Still Matter

Nicolas Vandeput

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Jan 26

My Learning Points from VN2, the First Inventory Competition

Taking place from 29th September to 10th of November 2025, VN2 is the first global inventory planning competition.[1] Participants had to…

My Learning Points from VN2, the First Inventory Competition

Nicolas Vandeput

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Jan 7

Forecasting Demand for a Chemical Manufacturer using Confirmed Future Orders

SupChains partnered with Vantage, a US chemical manufacturer, to improve its demand planning capabilities. Together, we redefined their…

Forecasting Demand for a Chemical Manufacturer using Confirmed Future Orders

Nicolas Vandeput

·

Nov 5, 2025

Capturing Demand Initial vs Current Requested Delivery Date

Demand forecasting is about predicting what your customers will want to buy in the future. Capturing demand can be tricky — if not…

Capturing Demand
Initial vs Current Requested Delivery Date

Nicolas Vandeput

Nicolas Vandeput

Book Author

Consultant, Trainer, Author. I reduce forecast error by 30% 📈 and inventory levels by 20% 📦. Contact me: linkedin.com/in/vandeputnicolas

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