July 11, 2025
Despite decades of steady improvements to techniques and technology, forecasting remains challenging and uncertain for many manufacturers. The question is why?
The answer is because supply chains, markets, regulators, and customers have all been growing more complex at the same time that our forecasting abilities have been advancing. Both the problem and the solution are evolving at roughly the same pace. As a result, forecasting hasn’t progressed as much as it seems, leaving manufacturers in largely the same position as before.
One study suggests that only 10% of manufacturers feel “very confident” in their forecasting ability, while as many as 25% feel “not confident at all.” There’s clearly room for improvement. There’s also a compelling case to improve immediately as forces like trade wars and technological advancements make the future so difficult to predict.
Change is on the horizon, and every supply chain will feel the effects. It’s time for manufacturers to break free from the forecasting trap once and for all—which can only happen by doing things differently.
The Foundations of Better Forecasting
There’s no easy way to predict the future. There are, however, common obstacles that undermine forecasting such as disconnected data, manual workflows, outdated systems, and analog data. All of these make forecasts harder to prepare and render the conclusions less reliable. Implementing the foundations of better forecasting addresses these issues to bring the future, no matter how dynamic, into focus:
The second—but closely related—cause of messy tech stacks is software that has weak or non-existent integration with each other. Functioning less like a stack of interconnected elements and more like a scattering of software, these environments create disconnected data sources where someone has to manually integrate and organize the data. The inevitable result is errors, omissions, delays, and distractions, all of which get worse as the tech stack grows.
● Digitization: Successful forecasting depends on having as much data as possible from present to past. While analog data will inevitably become distorted or lost, digital data allows for efficient long-term record keeping at scale. And while that might sound obvious, up to 70% of manufacturers still enter data manually, suggesting that digitization efforts aren’t yet complete. That’s an important prerequisite for better forecasting.
● Modernization: Digital data may be living in outdated systems that are difficult to integrate, adapt, or support, putting a hard cap on forecasting in the process. More than half the manufacturers in one survey used a supply-chain-planning application from 1998. Replacing systems built for an earlier era clears the way for modern systems with more sophisticated and streamlined forecasting capabilities.
● Automation: People can only understand so much data, which is why forecasts often end up relying on assumptions and intuitions rather than empirical insights. Automation, on the other hand, can ingest massive amounts of data, instantly see trends, patterns, and anomalies, handle time-consuming administrative obligations, and prepare forecasts without bias. Among the many ways that AI is revolutionizing manufacturing is by turning years of historical data into highly-informed forecasts that automatically update to new data.
● Integration: Nothing does more to undermine forecasting quality than data stored in disconnected systems, where getting a complete picture is either slow, unreliable, or impossible. Furthermore, loosely integrated systems must be carefully updated, making it harder to make changes to improve forecasting. Reducing the number of silos, systems, and vendors by consolidating information into a single-source-of-truth ensures that forecasts are based on the best information available.
How to improve foreccasting Fast
Manufacturing-specific ERP solutions like CloudSuite Industrial combine all the foundations of better forecasting in a single proven-package. However, technology alone isn’t enough to improve forecasting on the tight timelines facing manufacturing navigating through incredible uncertainty from now into the foreseeable future.
Guide Technologies helps manufacturers implement new solutions. Then we show them how to take full advantage of those tools to improve forecasting, scenario modeling, planning, and everything else on their strategic agenda.
Make better use of better technology. Contact our team.