Forecasting – OM in the News

South Carolina Leads in EV Industrial Development

Summertime is not far away, and many families are looking forward to vacationing in warm climates. Beaches in South Carolina are always popular locations, with Myrtle Beach, Kiawah Island, and Hilton Head ranking high on family vacation plans.

However, South Carolina is not only known for beautiful beaches, but is now one of the fastest growing states in America in terms of industrial development—particularly in the growing electric vehicles (EV) segment.

We can trace the origins of the exponential industrial growth in […]

By James Kirby Easterling|2023-05-01T02:07:16+00:00April 30, 2023|Tags: economic development, location planning, network design, optimization, process selection, system design|

TikTok Inspired Chipotle’s Fajita Quesadilla

Social media can greatly influence customer demand, and disrupt operations. Such is the case with TikTok and Chipotle.

Two TikTok influencers, Keith Lee and Alexis Frost, endorsed a menu hack that went viral. Initially, the restaurant wasn’t ready for the off-menu item, and some restaurants wouldn’t let customers order the item. This put stress on Chipotle’s systems and employees—not to mention creating unhappy customers who went online to complain about not being able to get the quesadilla.

However, Chipotle decided to listen […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2023-03-22T05:02:29+00:00March 26, 2023|Tags: food supply chain, inventory management, new product design, product design, sourcing, voice of the customer|

Furniture Glut in Silicon Valley

One man’s loss is another man’s gain.

The rise of remote work, an economic slowdown, and tighter access to capital have forced tech companies to retreat or disappear. The situation is especially dire in the San Francisco area where prime office space has been vacated. Once destined to the landfill, the barely-used furniture is now finding new homes thanks to resellers capitalizing on the excesses of a certain corporate culture and oversized operations.

Video Spotlight: Is Herman Miller […]

By Corinne M. Karuppan, Ph.D.|2023-03-18T16:54:05+00:00March 19, 2023|Tags: carbon footprint, competitivness, forecasting, job design, location, product design, strategic capacity management, sustainability, value analysis|

AI Is Revolutionizing Demand Forecasting

Demand forecasting is at the very core of operations management.

In simple terms, a forecast is a projection or prediction about some future point in time based on underlying assumptions. Demand forecasts—what we project customers will want—range from short-term (operational) to long-term (strategic) and help organizations plan for variables such as production capacity, labor, raw materials, packaging, and transportation needs.

The question isn’t whether demand planning is important or essential. The question, rather, is how to have more accurate forecasts so that […]

By James Kirby Easterling|2023-03-12T11:18:36+00:00March 12, 2023|Tags: artificial intelligence, demand management, forecasting, inventory, lean, strategic capacity planning, waste|