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.