Case Study: The Role of Demand Sensing at Kimberly-Clark
Case Study: The Role of Demand Sensing in Kimberly-Clark’s Demand-Driven Journey
Gartner, Inc.
Analyst: Steven Steutermann
Reference ID: G00216840
September 6, 2011
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“To be demand-driven, companies must first be able to sense demand and then effectively translate demand across the enterprise to deliver value and benefit from demand-driven investments. Kimberly-Clark is well on its way to becoming "that" indispensable supply partner to improve value in trading relationships. Improving forecast accuracy and executing a supply chain response in shorter cycles is what's required to compete today.
"It's no longer simply about driving efficiency at the expense of responsiveness and supply chain agility, but having the appropriate response required to deliver expected results and to compete for growth and market share in a challenging business environment. K-C has also moved from a weekly to a daily forecast release, allowing the company to see demand changes sooner, react faster to demand volatility and improve supply chain responsiveness.”
Demand Sensing (DS) plays a critical role in the demand-driven journey at K-C, improving inventory management, lowering supply chain costs and improving service to customers.