Beyond Short-Term Demand: How Driver-Based Forecasting Supports Better Long-Term Planning
Written by: Roger Baldridge For CPG companies, forecasting has traditionally focused heavily on historical demand. Looking at past sales provides an important foundation, but it does not always answer the questions businesses need to make longer-term decisions. What will demand look like in the future? What decisions could impact our business strategy? What happens if market conditions shift? These questions are […]
As Your CPG Business Grows, Is Your Planning Keeping Up?
Written by: Rob Haddock Growth is a sign of success, but it also introduces new challenges. As consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies add customers, expand into new retail channels, launch new products, and increase promotional activity, supply chain planning becomes significantly more complex. The planning processes that worked when your business was smaller often struggle to keep […]
From Firefighting to Flow: How CPG Manufacturers Can Regain Control of Their Plants
In this thought leadership article, Demand Chain AI advisor Rob Haddock explores why so many CPG manufacturers find themselves stuck in constant firefighting instead of running stable, predictable operations. Drawing on decades of experience in manufacturing and supply chain planning, he explains how poor planning discipline, inconsistent execution, and ineffective inventory strategies create unnecessary disruption […]
AI Implementations: Balancing Progress vs Perfection
Written by: Nolen Akerman & Fraser Lockhart Earlier this year, friends were conducting research on weather stations for their backyard garden. Evaluating the set of features for all the models was a tiresome process, so they sought assistance from a friendly online AI chatbot. The response was impressively formatted with tables and links, highlighting the best features of each model. The only problem: several of […]
The Slow Leak: How CPG Brands Are Losing on Trade Promotion and What Puls8™ RGOˣ Does Differently
The way most CPG teams approach trade promotions hasn’t kept up with the pace of the market. For too long, planning has been built on static assumptions, historical averages, and reactive post-analysis. Teams invest significant budget into promotions, only to find out weeks later what actually worked and what quietly eroded margin. By then, the […]
How Smarter Data AND Smarter AI are Powering CPG Revenue Growth
By Chad Schumacher The past few years have tested every Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) company’s growth strategy. Prices fluctuate. Shopper loyalty shifts. Retailers are tougher negotiators than ever. At the center of it all? Promotions. Promos drive volume and visibility but they’re notoriously expensive to run and hard to measure. Too often, CPG teams chase […]
Demand Chain AI’s Rob Haddock on Raising Planning Maturity and Helping Companies Outgrow Spreadsheets
This thought leadership piece features Demand Chain AI advisor Rob Haddock, who shares a practitioner’s perspective on why many organizations still struggle with supply chain planning maturity and why moving beyond spreadsheets is often the first step. Drawing on decades of experience in CPG and manufacturing, Haddock explains why discipline, process, and optimization matter more […]
Interconnectedness, Volatility and Uncertainty are Reshaping Global Supply Chains
Discover how growing volatility and interconnected supply networks are pushing CPG brands beyond traditional supply-centric planning in this article written by Geoff Shive. He explains why demand chain planning, grounded in consumer demand, retailer collaboration, and transparent AI, is critical for protecting service levels and margins. The piece highlights practical approaches, including scenario planning, agentic AI, and digital twins, to help CPG leaders manage uncertainty and make faster, more confident decisions.
Data Reboot: How Cleansing Fuels AI, Automation, and Agility
By Chad Schumacher This white paper explores the journey of ClearSprout Foods, a fast-growing CPG manufacturer that learned a critical lesson: AI and analytics are only as powerful as the data behind them. As the company raced to implement advanced tools, fragmented systems and inconsistent records held back meaningful progress. Through ClearSprout’s transformation from messy, […]
Crawl, Walk, Run – Advancing Supply and Demand Chain Production Planning
Written by Rick Davis Discover how CPG manufacturers are transforming supply and demand planning through the “Crawl, Walk, Run” framework, as outlined by Richard Davis, CEO of Demand Chain AI. In our latest article, Davis explains how a phased approach—starting with foundational visibility, progressing through process integration, and advancing to AI-driven optimization—helps organizations build capability, […]