Forecasting in Fast Moving Consumer Goods Organisations

The FMCG sector is a main contributor to many economies and increasingly finds itself operating in highly complex markets characterised by powerful and demanding customers. Little work has been conducted on the analysis of forecasting systems in FMCG organisations. While existing research reports on the accuracy of forecasts generated in these organisations it is argued that this is only part of the overall planning need in the FMCG sector. The lack of a real understanding of where forecasting fits in with the wider organisational requirements in a practical sense means that the academic theory is seldom used by practitioners, resulting in the continuance of the “theory-practice gap”. In this book, a multi-method research approach based on a case study analysis of one of the UK’s largest producers of beer (a typical FMCG) has been used to fully investigate the whole forecasting function, rather than simply assess the accuracy of forecasts generated. The contents of this book are of interest to operations managers, marketers in FMCG companies, buyers in large retail enterprises and academics working in these fields.