July 2010 | Sponsored | Thought Leaders  What’s Ahead in
Transportation Forecasting?  Tags: Logistics I.T.,
Transportation Management   Transportation forecasts enable
planners to shift from reacting to orders to proactively
managing capacity. By synchronizing transport forecasts with
manufacturing and distribution plans, your entire company can
respond to the same demand signals.  Q: Why isn’t transportation
planned with the same level of rigor as finished goods?  BYRNE:
Transportation cannot be planned with the same level of rigor as
finished goods because transportation management systems rely on
one piece of information— current orders— to schedule shipments.
There is no forward-looking view of requirements that would let
the planners understand promotion timing, capacity issues, or
seasonal patterns. If transportation planners want to shift from
reacting to orders to proactively managing capacity, they need a
lane-level transportation forecast. Moreover, this forecast
needs to be synchronized with the ma