Best Demand Planning Software Tools For 2024

Best for Inventory Management, Supply Chain Analytics

Compare Top Supply Chain Management Software Leaders

Starting Price

$100,000

Company Size

Large

Deployment

Cloud, On-Premise

Overview
Benefits
Key Features
Limitations
Researcher’s Summary

Blue Yonder offers a wide array of tools and features aimed at optimizing transportation, storage and inventory management, making it a solid demand planning tool for businesses to modernize their supply chain operations. It also takes our award for the best SCM tool for logistics and transportation.

Its forecasting model mitigates risks and elevates operational efficiency, giving companies a decisive edge in the dynamic realm of supply chain management.

Blue Yonder’s answer to supply chain disruption, seasonality and trade concerns is its Luminate Planning platform. Here’s what it can do:

It simplifies collaboration across different departments and planning timeframes. It connects demand and supply planning, the upstream and downstream supply chain, S&OP and S&OE (Sales & Operations Execution).
The platform offers end-to-end exception visualization, prioritization and machine learning-based solutions.
It lets you visualize and manage the carrier and supplier network with real-time order, shipment and inventory status.
It helps you pinpoint possible disruptions and opportunities, create situation rooms, collaborate, run scenarios and receive ML-based advice on suitable actions.

Merge Planning and Execution: Use Luminate Planning to manage the supply chain. It focuses on clear visualization and priority setting for rising issues. Plus, it employs machine learning to solve them. Users get an all-around view of their carrier and supplier network. It goes beyond typical response planning methods to sense disruptions and adjust plans. It also displays real-time updates on orders, shipments and inventory.
Optimize Inventory: Improve stock management and planning with a united view of inventory data. Smart solutions create inventory goals, helping planners resolve out-of-stock cases and late deliveries. Consider metrics like sales history, on-hand inventory and orders for planning. Introduce new products using history and forecast data across categories. This strategy minimizes the chances of surplus or shortage.
Handle Assortment: Offer the right products by combining buyer preferences, lifecycle plans, deep analytics and size optimization. Blue Yonder’s Assortment Optimization works with its Space Planning. Turn assortment decisions into store displays to unlock greater sales and higher profits.
Improve Supply Networks: Model and optimize the supply chain to handle strategic concerns. Blue Yonder’s network design tool offers end-to-end solutions for growing, curbing disruption or optimizing available resources. It mimics the chain from raw materials to end products. If a particular part of the chain is causing issues or is affected by a recent event, it can focus on that, too.
Simplify Warehouse Functions: Use real-time processing to cut warehousing costs. Selection and storage strategies also become efficient. The system simplifies and directs processes by combining labor laws and task management. Its tasking abilities enable clear operations using data-driven insights. This capability results in cost-effective, error-free warehousing.

Forecasts: This demand planning software uses a transparent “glass box” approach to provide visibility into the algorithms and data used for forecasting. It identifies and analyzes various demand drivers, such as seasonality, promotions, economic indicators and market trends. Its forecast accuracy model scores a perfect 100 in our analyst data.
Automation: Blue Yonder's platform automates data processing to generate unbiased predictions for advanced productivity. With another score of 100, the automated planning feature aligns finance, sales and operations with integrated business planning. It supports tracking inventory performance over time and visualizing rough-cut and long-term capacity planning data.
Collaboration: The demand planning system promotes collaboration among stakeholders through integrated multi-dimensional analysis and planning. Its custom dashboards, also rated a 100 in our analysis, offer role-based dashboards that provide actionable insights in the form of KPIs, reminders and tasks.
Risk Mitigation: It bases recommendations on demand variability analyses and lets you model “what if” scenarios to examine and evaluate the effects on inventory levels, production schedules and customer service metrics. This 100-scoring feature then lets you run targeted mitigation strategies like adjusting inventory policies, diversifying suppliers or refining forecasting processes.

Lengthy implementation process.
Customization challenges.
A steep learning curve for new users.

Blue Yonder helps businesses plan their supply chains. It's suitable for medium and large companies. This tool uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to help companies spot problems quickly. It boosts collaboration, offers scenario testing and predicts results.

Users like Blue Yonder because it helps manage stock levels and plan for future needs. It also gives a clear view of supplier networks and tracks orders, shipments and inventory in real time.

However, some users say that it takes a long time to set up and needs constant support. They also wish it was easier to customize and more user-friendly. Overall, the tool is known for its wide range of features, which help companies manage their supply chains more efficiently.

Learn more about Blue Yonder

Forecasting method configuration window displaying feature selection, parameters, and options for Auto ML in Demand Planning Software Blue Yonder

Quickly forecast with editable parameters. Source

Platform Analysis

Highest Rated Features		Features Not Fully Supported
Demand Planning	100	Custom Field Name Configuration	Not supported
Demand Sensing	100	Pick Oldest Batch in Mobile	Not Supported
Generate Forecasts	100	Dynamic Demand Segmentation	Moderately supported out of the box
What-If Analysis for Network Design	100	Demand-At-Risk Drill Down Visualizations	Moderately supported out of the box
Inventory Optimization Analytics	100	Build Plan, Resources, and Capacity Utilization Matrix	Moderately supported out of the box
Production Scheduling or Rescheduling	100

Industry Use Case

Let’s talk about Positec, a company that builds home improvement tools. They used to do a lot of their planning by hand, which was slow and prone to errors. When they switched to using Blue Yonder’s automated tools, things got way better:

Positec improved its forecast accuracy by approximately 40%, leading to better alignment of production and inventory with actual market demand.
The company successfully decreased its safety stock from 150 days to 35, significantly reducing carrying costs and improving cash flow.
Fulfillment lead time was reduced by 66%, enhancing the company’s ability to respond quickly to customer orders.

Oracle SCM Cloud

Best Overall, Best for Inventory Management

Compare Top Supply Chain Management Software Leaders

Starting Price

$350

Company Size

Large

Deployment

Cloud

Overview
Benefits
Key Features
Limitations
Researcher’s Summary

Oracle Demand Management takes a customer-centric approach by dynamically analyzing and segmenting demand. This capability is priceless for businesses dealing with demand variability, new product introductions and configured products. The demand planning software aligns inventory policies and fulfillment strategies with actual customer demand.

According to our analysis, we gave Oracle the award for best overall SCM tool. It also earned badges for being the best at supply chain planning, analytics and more.

Oracle Demand Management's advanced forecasting capabilities cement its value proposition. A patented Bayesian analytical forecast engine, combined with machine learning techniques, refines forecasting results for greater accuracy. It uses 15 statistical models that effectively handle various product life cycles and demand patterns, bringing insights into baseline trends, seasonality and causal factors.

Simulation and scenario planning capabilities allow users to carry out unlimited forecast simulations. By assessing the impact of various factors, such as pricing changes, marketing initiatives and demand fluctuations, you can evaluate different demand-shaping strategies and select the most effective ones to meet objectives.

The software's cross-functional collaboration features simplify collaboration and consensus building. Teams can brainstorm insights, compare variances over time and identify mismatches between sales estimates and actual shipments.

Flexbile Installation: Allows users to choose the components to be installed and the modules required to integrate the full-system into operations to improve supply chain functions. Each component is supported by Oracle’s support guarantee, which provides access to all the support needed, regardless of the selected integration.
Leverage the Cloud: Offers mobile access to important supply chain data to safely back-up critical information while having access from anywhere at any time.
Surpass Goals: Delivers a suite of tools to move supply chain planning and other management practices to a new level. Cut costs, boost productivity throughout the supply chain and gain visibility into important customer service metrics.
Incorportate New Technologies: Includes modern technology like machine learning, AI and blockchain support into regular supply chain operations to get ahead of the curve.
Digitize Supply Chain: Supports digital data exchange to decrease daily operational costs. The supply chain can function quicker with fewer costs without on-site maintenance and older analog file organization systems.

Demand Sensing: It captures both internal and external demand signals as they happen. It pulls data from shipments, bookings and market trends. This real-time capability, scoring a 100 in our data, helps you swiftly identify demand patterns and shifts to adapt.
New Product Introduction (NPI) Management: Its forecasts consider product life cycle dates and the effects of cannibalization. This capability helps predict how new products will affect sales of current offerings. Its pricing and promotion analysis feature scores 85. It models price change impacts & creates forecasts based on predicted sales lift.
Collaboration: The demand planning system promotes collaboration among stakeholders through integrated multi-dimensional analysis and planning. Its custom dashboards, rated 100, offer role-based dashboards that provide actionable insights in the form of KPIs, reminders and tasks.
Risk Mitigation: It bases recommendations on demand variability analyses and lets you model “what if” scenarios to examine and evaluate the effects on inventory levels, production schedules and customer service metrics. This 100-scoring feature then lets you run targeted mitigation strategies like adjusting inventory policies, diversifying suppliers or refining forecasting processes.

Steep Learning Curve: The user interface can be complex, especially for users unfamiliar with Oracle products, requiring significant training and investment in up-skilling.
Integration Challenges: While APIs are available, integrating Oracle SCM Cloud with existing systems can be time-consuming and require specialized expertise, adding to the overall cost and complexity.
Limited Customization: While some customization options are available, the platform's core functionality is relatively rigid, potentially restricting its ability to adapt to specific business needs.

Users of Oracle SCM Cloud express overall satisfaction with its comprehensive capabilities and robust features. Many praise its ability to provide end-to-end visibility and control over their supply chain operations, citing improved efficiency and cost savings. One user commented, "Oracle SCM Cloud has revolutionized our supply chain management, streamlining processes and increasing visibility into critical data. We've seen a significant reduction in lead times and inventory levels, leading to substantial cost savings." However, some users noted the platform's complexity, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses with limited resources. "The initial learning curve can be steep, and customization requires specialized expertise," remarked one user. "However, the long-term benefits outweigh the initial challenges." One of Oracle SCM Cloud's key strengths compared to competitors like SAP S/4HANA and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management is its scalability and global reach. "Oracle SCM Cloud seamlessly scales with our business, accommodating our growth and expansion into new markets," stated another user. "The multi-language and currency support is invaluable for our international operations." While competitors offer similar features, Oracle SCM Cloud stands out with its advanced analytics and machine learning capabilities. "The platform's ability to predict future demand and optimize inventory levels has been a game-changer for our business," commented one user. "We are now able to anticipate customer needs and react quickly to market changes, ensuring on-time deliveries and improved customer satisfaction." Overall, user reviews paint a positive picture of Oracle SCM Cloud as a powerful and comprehensive solution for optimizing supply chain operations. While its complexity might require additional support for smaller businesses, its scalability, global reach, and advanced analytics capabilities make it a compelling choice for large enterprises seeking to gain a competitive edge in today's dynamic business environment.

Learn more about Oracle SCM Cloud

Oracle demand plan summary dashboard displaying shipment analysis, forecast accuracy, new product forecast, and sales vs. shipment comparison

Analyze and segment demand, manage variability, and plan demand for configured products. Source

Platform Analysis

Highest Rated Features		Features Not Fully Supported
Demand Planning	100	AI-Based Disruption Mitigations Recommendations	Moderately supported out of the box
Demand Sensing	100	Pricing and Promotion Analysis	Moderately supported out of the box
Generate Forecasts	100
What-If Analysis for Network Design	100
Dynamic Demand Segmentation	100
Measure and Track Forecast Accuracy or Errors	100

Industry Use Case

GE Vernorva, formerly GE Power, made significant improvements to its supply chain by using Oracle’s Demand planning system. They combined five ERP systems into one, which helped all parts of the company work together better and predict what customers wanted.

They also improved their forecast accuracy from 55% to 70%. This level of accuracy helped GE Power plan better and use its resources more wisely.

The new system lets them look at different possible situations, ask “what if” questions and see what’s happening across their whole supply chain.

SAP Supply Chain

Best for Purchase Order Management, Warehouse Labor Management

Compare Top Supply Chain Management Software Leaders

Starting Price

$30,000

Company Size

Large

Deployment

Cloud, On-Premise

Overview
Benefits
Key Features
Limitations
Researcher’s Summary

Primarily known for its supply chain management abilities, SAP SCM offers one of the most powerful and integrated demand planning solutions. Through advanced analytics and real-time data processing, SAP SCM transforms disparate information into actionable insights for decision-making.

SAP SCM is a versatile tool that caters to a wide range of industries. In the consumer products sector, it handles the challenges of fluctuating demand, promotions and new product launches. Retailers rely on it to optimize inventory across various channels, predict seasonal changes and align with market demand.

For manufacturers, SAP SCM's demand planning feature simplifies production schedules, reduces lead times and minimizes inventory imbalances. Even in the high-tech industry, with its fast-paced product life cycles, SAP SCM helps forecast demand for innovations and optimizes component availability.

Its seamless integration with other SAP modules, such as procurement, production and logistics, provides a holistic view of the entire supply chain. Advanced analytics, including real-time data processing and machine learning, contribute to a high degree of forecasting accuracy.

Improve Communication: Open up communication between businesses within different sections of the supply chain. Maintain demand management and organize key supply chain processes.
Increased Data Visibility: Gain a bird’s-eye view of the entire supply chain and harvest valuable data from everyday processes. Get visibility into how each portion of a supply chain functions for informed planning and decision-making.
Boost Customer Satisfaction: Increase visibility into warehousing and transportation and give customers the ability to find out when, where and how their product is being shipped. Boost trust with multiple customers as they can keep track of their shipments with up-to-date information.
Accurate Forecasting: Use state-of-the-art AI and analytics to let clients accurately forecast product demand. Improve planning practices to avoid stock shortages and reduce inventory.
Better Inventory Management: Track stored products and optimize stock locations with inventory management tools. Retrieve goods quickly and accurately for rapid shipment.

Statistical Forecasting: SAP uses statistical models to predict future demand based on historical data. It uses methods for outlier detection and best-fit modeling, which help refine forecasts by identifying and correcting data anomalies. That’s why SAP scores 100 in its forecasting and demand-sensing abilities.
Collaboration and Consensus Planning: It enables collaboration among sales and marketing to create a consensus demand plan. Teamwork like that is essential for aligning perspectives and ensuring that all stakeholders contribute to forecasting. Due to its support for business planning across departments and locations, SAP scores 100 for this feature.
Data Integration: Using SAP S/4HANA technology, this demand planning tool provides real-time data access, enabling companies to respond swiftly to changes in demand. This capability supports more frequent planning cycles and quick adaptation to market fluctuations.
Predictive Analytics: By incorporating machine learning algorithms, SAP Demand Planning enhances forecast accuracy. It captures relationships between various demand influencers, such as seasonality and market trends, which can significantly impact customer purchasing behavior.
Lifecycle and Promotion Planning: SAP supports the lifecycle management of products and promotional activities, allowing businesses to plan for new product introductions and phase-outs effectively. The phase-in/phase-out profiles allow modeling stages like launch, growth, maturity and discontinuation of a product, for which SAP gets a perfect score of 100.
Integration With Supply Chain Operations: The demand planning module is part of a broader supply chain management solution, ensuring that demand forecasts are seamlessly integrated into supply chain operations. This alignment is critical for optimizing inventory levels and meeting customer service targets.

Complex global deployments across multiple modules
Significant upfront investment for licensing, services, training and change management.

Navigating the labyrinth of supply chain management software can be daunting, but SAP Supply Chain appears to be a guiding light for many businesses. User reviews from the past year paint a picture of a robust and reliable solution that streamlines operations and enhances efficiency. Reviewers frequently highlight the software's user-friendly interface and intuitive design, making it accessible to both seasoned professionals and those new to supply chain management. The ability to track inventory levels in real-time and manage orders seamlessly has also received widespread acclaim, with many users noting significant improvements in their ability to meet customer demands and optimize stock levels.

While SAP Supply Chain enjoys a largely positive reputation, some users have pointed out areas for potential improvement. Integration with existing systems can occasionally present challenges, requiring additional configuration and support. Furthermore, the software's extensive features and functionalities may necessitate a steeper learning curve for some users. Despite these considerations, SAP Supply Chain's strengths appear to outweigh its weaknesses, particularly for medium to large enterprises with complex supply chain operations. Its comprehensive suite of tools, scalability, and ability to provide real-time insights make it a valuable asset for businesses seeking to optimize their supply chain processes and gain a competitive edge.

Learn more about SAP Supply Chain

Bar chart showing DS adjustments by reason for various products, including forecast bias, future ordered quantity, customer store sales, and social sentiment in Demand Planning Software SAP SCM

Analyze demand drivers on the SAP SCM dashboard. Source

Platform Analysis

Highest Rated Features		Features Not Fully Supported
Demand Planning	100	AI-Based Disruption Mitigations Recommendations	Moderately supported out of the box
Demand Sensing	100	Pricing and Promotion Analysis	Moderately supported out of the box
Generate Forecasts	100	Build Plan, Resources, and Capacity Utilization Matrix	Moderately supported out of the box
What-If Analysis for Network Design	100
Multi-Location Supply Planning	100
Measure and Track Forecast Accuracy or Errors	100

Industry Use Case

Let’s see how SAP’s AI-powered demand planning tool helped Coca-Cola Europacific Partners reimagine its supply chain planning process.

CCEP’s operations were spread across 29 countries, with 80 factories and 130 warehouses, leading to disparate systems and inconsistent processes. The reliance on obsolete technology and Excel spreadsheets slowed efficiency and collaboration.

The lack of a unified platform resulted in limited visibility across the supply chain. This short-sightedness made it challenging to predict demand fluctuations, optimize inventory levels and respond to disruptions.

With SAP’s intervention, the company unlocked the following benefits:

Implementation of SAP IBP brought advanced AI capabilities, including demand sensing.
CCEP could anticipate demand fluctuations more accurately.
CCEP gained a 6% increase in forecast accuracy.
Order completion rate and on-time deliveries also increased by 2%

Logility

Compare Top Supply Chain Management Software Leaders

Starting Price

Undisclosed

Company Size

Medium, Large

Deployment

Cloud, On-Premise

Overview
Benefits
Key Features
Limitations
Researcher’s Summary

Logility's demand planning tool is part of its broader supply chain platform that helps companies connect strategic, financial and operational plans. The software serves midsize to large enterprises in manufacturing, retail, consumer goods and other supply chain-intensive industries.

The demand planning software uses AI algorithms to analyze historical sales data, market trends and external factors like seasonality, promotions and economic indicators to generate precise forecasts. It also allows real-time monitoring of actual sales against forecasted demand and can analyze data from social media and other digital platforms to gauge consumer sentiment.

The platform facilitates cross-functional teamwork and consensus-based planning by providing configurable dashboards and key performance indicators for various stakeholders.

Improve Forecast Accuracy With AI: The software recognizes different product types (seasonal, short-life cycle, new products) and applies the most appropriate forecasting approach for each. Its native machine-learning capabilities scored 100 for analyzing intermittency, collinearity, anomalies, level shifts, price changes, holidays and events.
Plan for Demand: It records demand insights from external and internal stakeholders to collect data and assumptive inputs into demand plan formulation. Create and compare multiple scenarios based on altering key variables like demand changes, supply disruptions, market shifts and pricing adjustments.
Use DemandAI+: DemandAI+ integrates historical and causal data to refine forecasts, helping companies predict customer needs and market changes. It automatically detects market events that influence demand, enabling businesses to respond swiftly to changes. DemandAI+ significantly reduces time spent on planning activities, with companies reporting up to a 70% reduction in weekly planning time.
Reduce Inventory Costs: Its Multi-Echelon Inventory Optimization considers stock levels across the entire supply chain network to determine optimal inventory targets. It helps lower safety stock while avoiding stockouts, which is especially beneficial for complex global supply chains.
Simplify Collaboration: Logility's configurable dashboards and KPIs enable cross-functional collaboration on demand plans. The software supports consensus-based demand planning across sales, marketing, finance and supply chain teams.

Analytics: Leverages complex machine learning, AI and other simulations to automate planning and give insight into supply chain data and functions. Supports planning across large multi-enterprise networks and other complex operations.
Inventory Optimization: Accelerates inventory turns, reduces carrying costs, and reveals the best stocking locations and sizes of inventory buffers. Algorithms and machine learning help create strong inventory policies.
Demand Optimization: Helps deploy optimal inventory based on changes occurring in daily demand while lowering the amount of inventory needed to meet customer service requirements. Attribute demand to specific customers and eliminate non-essential inventory to reduce carrying costs.
Lifecycle Management: Gaining full visibility into projects allows end-to-end control over the lifecycle of an operation. Put financial plans into place so that projects meet their revenue goals and plan to source by vendor and region.
Sourcing Management: Supports RFQ’s (requests for quotes) to aid choosing participating vendors based on the set criterias. Compares suppliers on the global market to each other and issued RFQs. Also optimizes vendor onboarding to aid in vetting factories to mitigate risks.

Doesn't support the build plan and capacity utilization feature.
Struggles to integrate demand forecasting and production planning.
Being unable to understand capacities and constraints can lead to suboptimal production schedules.

Logility provides effective features for supply change and transportation management, with users calling out its planning, forecasting and modeling tools as notable strengths. Reviews unanimously indicate that the initial setup is challenging and cumbersome. There’s also a steep learning curve and the software is difficult to customize. However, prompt and effective customer support is offered to help resolve any issues. It has a simple user interface, and users also appreciate how easy it is to manipulate and manage data. Overall, it’s a good choice for companies looking to get extensive supply chain and transportation capabilities.

Learn more about Logility

Demand Planning Software Logility dashboard showing a current plan graph, table of sales data, and a chat interaction displaying promotion forecasts for a chocolate sub-group

Track the effect of seasonality, promotion and events on demand. Source

Platform Analysis

Highest Rated Features		Features Not Fully Supported
Demand Planning	100	Build Plan, Resources, and Capacity Utilization Matrix	Not Supported
Demand Sensing	100	Demand-At-Risk Drill Down Visualizations	Moderately supported out of the box
Generate Forecasts	100
Multi-Location Supply Planning	100
Dynamic Demand Segmentation	100
Measure and Track Forecast Accuracy or Errors	100

Industry Use Case

We’ll talk about iNova Pharmaceuticals, a company that used to rely on spreadsheet-based planning until bottlenecks started to pile up. When they switched to Logility’s demand planning solution, the results were transformative:

iNova improved its forecast accuracy by 50%, enabling a more precise alignment of supply with market needs.
The company reduced manual purchase order creation by 40% through automation, freeing up valuable time and resources.
Logility’s solution also enhanced safety stock modeling, providing a foolproof foundation for iNova’s growth.

This shift was a crucial part of iNova’s strategy to support its complex, geographically diverse business with future-proof technology.

Dynamics 365 SCM

Best for Mobile Capabilites