Keeping faith in forecasting.

If there was a single message presented at the Aberdeen Group’s annual Supply Chain Management Summit in San Francisco last month, it was that complacency is no longer an option. “As the economy strengthens, we’re examining lessons learned by the past and our conclusion is that more balance must be created in the supply chain,” said Juan F. Rubio, vice president of Logistics Resources International and keynote speaker to this year’s Summit. “Customer service and inventory policy must be re-scaled to maximize efficiency while continuing to focus on cost,” he said. Rubio addressed the session’s theme of “Proactive Supply Chain Strategies for 2010 and Beyond” by emphasizing that forecasting will play a crucial role in the realm of customer service and inventory control.