magine the scene. You are in a senior
operational role with a global manufacturing
business, responsible for running its
warehousing operations worldwide. During the
past decade, your organization has rationalized
and relocated many of its manufacturing
facilities, including moving some activities to
outsourced providers in India and China. The
business has also expanded and reshaped its
supply chain in line with these changes.
The challenging economic conditions of
the past two years have put significant strains
on the business, making cost-cutting the key
focus, not least in supply chain operations.
But now, with the global economy recovering,
consumers in your existing markets — and
even more so in some emerging markets,
which the company is just entering — are
regaining confidence and are eager to buy your
products. So you are now trying to forecast
this, along with gearing up manufacturing to
meet rising demand.