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Best Business Forecasting Software Tools & Systems in 2021 (Top 10 Comparison)

Alex Koshulko, Ph.D.
Written by Alex Koshulko, Ph.D. — Updated on May 17, 2021

1. Streamline — Best Business Forecasting Software Solution Overall.

  • Forecast, plan, and place orders twice as fast.
  • Reduce stockouts by up to 98%.
  • Reduce excess inventory by 15-50%.
  • Increase inventory turnover by 35%.
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The free edition is free forever.

“If you are using Excel spreadsheets for Demand & Supply planning, move quickly to this software that will certainly make your planning much more efficient, capitalize benefits very fast, and make your life much easier.”

Sr. Consultant on Gartner Peer Insights

Business forecasting can be defined as an operational tool for predicting the future economic conditions on the basis of historical and nowadays data. It is important to create an accurate forecast for it will affect future operational management decisions and as a result, revenue, income, and sustainable development of a company.

How to know you’ve found the perfect business forecasting tool?

GMDH Business forecasting software and tools

1. Fast and intuitive user interface

Inventory planning has to be accomplished efficiently and effectively. Therefore you can concentrate on long terms goals and business development.

2. Seamless integration of company data sources

Bidirectional connectivity allows to pull in data from your sales system into Streamline, as well as automatically export the forecasted order information back to your ERP system.

3. Smooth and fast implementation process

A successful implementation requires the coordination of many variable factors. We are well ware of the the gamut of sales and ERP systems available on the market nowadays. Thus, we will make sure you and your team are ready to go on promptly.

4. Ideal fit of the business process in your company

Your inventory planning solution needs to be aligned with your business goals and with all of the other processes in your company.

There are many factors to consider when choosing an inventory planning software system for your company. These might include the total cost of ownership of the chosen solution, reliability, high quality support, and finally, your ability to evaluate all features before making the decision.

Business forecasting in GMDH Streamline

Let us take a closer look at Streamline features specific to business forecasting:

Download GMDH Streamline for free or request a demo with our experts to see how you can improve the business forecasting process in your company.

Too much manual work in Excel?

Streamline your planning today:

  • Forecast, plan, and place orders twice as fast.
  • 90-98% reduction in stockouts.
  • 15-50% reduction in excess inventory.
  • 35% higher inventory turnover.
  • 10-40X ROI in the first year. 100% ROI in the first month.
  • GMDH Streamline already manages over $5 billion in inventory for retailers, wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers, and ecommerce worldwide.
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Watch the business forecasting capabilities video

Learn and see in action the key features and benefits of GMDH Streamline software.

Demand forecasting capabilities of Streamline [voiced]

Streamline Reviews

Streamline Customers

Our customers

Contact Info

hello@gmdhsoftware.com
sales@gmdhsoftware.com
support@gmdhsoftware.com
+1 (888) 688-6406 (North America)
+1 (347) 470-4634 (Worldwide)
New York HQ
55 Broadway, 28th Floor
New York, NY, 10006
gmdh-office

Accurate Statistical Forecast

Inaccurate Forecasts might be even more dangerous than absence of a forecasts at all.

Many forecasting products use “model fit” to determine which forecasting algorithm to use. The issue with this approach is that it promotes models that may look great on current data, instead of making accurate predictions on future data. This is called “overfitting”. That is why, GMDH Streamline uses special algorithms to create models that thoroughly analyse the data and generates the statistical models on the existing periods and provide more accurate forecasting predictions.

accurate-statistical-forecast

Forecast Approval System

Do you need to collaborate with your colleagues to develop your forecasts?

Our forecast approval system provides you an opportunity to manage your forecasts with others, allowing each SKU to have a status of Approved, Unapproved, or Needs Attention. Approved SKUs are locked from further changes.

forecast approval system

Revenue Planning

Do you need to know your sales forecast for your next period(s)?

Streamline is able to import sales prices as well as sales history, allowing revenue forecasts align with demand forecasts.

revenue planning

Flexible Manual Adjustments

How do you make your forecast responsive to additional factors?

For many businesses, the final forecast is a consensus between statistical forecasts and management/planner assumptions.

GMDH Streamline provides an environment where forecasts can be managed, reevaluated, and modified based on additional information available internally by your management team, or provided by your vendors and suppliers.

flexible manual adjustment

New Products Forecasting

Do you have new units that replace discontinued products or any very new commodity with limited market history?

Not a big deal ! GMDH Streamline can link such profiles to the sales history of similar, existing products (substitutions) or set seasonal coefficients. This allows you to get a reliable forecast for those fresh items as well.

new product forecasting

Demand Forecasting

Demand and Revenue Planning

Inventory Planning and Optimization

Material Requirements Planning

What is demand forecasting?

Demand forecasting is a process of understanding and predicting customer demand for a particular product or category. This process is based on the analysis of historical data of sales and market trends, with the following forecast based on the statistical forecast models such as seasonal, linear, or constant trend. The Supply chain management process depends on the future customer’s demand and the accuracy of trends prediction. That’s why demand planners take into account forecast accuracy and forecast error levels when doing demand forecasting. This is easy to get the most efficient levels using Streamline for demand forecasting. Streamline provides accurate demand forecast by using a build-in expert system that automatically analyzes each item for levels, seasonality, trends, and intermittency.

What is demand planning?

Demand planning is a business process of outlining and management of customer demand for products and services. Planning of a customer demand consists of a statistical forecast using the most appropriate model. As a result of demand planning process, a company gets a sales plan which is initiating a service-planning process, production, inventory planning, and revenue planning.

What is revenue planning?

Revenue planning is about the management of the resources in the company. In order to accomplish the expected revenue, the following things should be taken into account: analysis of existing resources, planning expected expenses and/or investments in your business. Streamline warns you about excess or lack of inventory by highlighting these items in the inventory report. It also calculates the turnover of each item and gives the trend in the future based on the forecast.

What is inventory planning & optimization?

Inventory planning means the process of managing on-hand items as well as making timely orders to determine the optimal quantity and to prevent overstocks and stockouts. The process of inventory optimization aims to balance between stock-keeping units (SKUs) and working capital to get the maximal income. Streamline has powerful capabilities for optimizing inventory levels, calculating safety stocks, and generating optimal purchasing plans. It also allows filtering items by supplier and road the order of different products to fit a container capacity the best.

What is material requirements planning?

Material requirements planning (MRP) is a process that includes a production planning, scheduling, and inventory control system used to manage manufacturing processes. In order to calculate what material is required and when an order can go into production, an MRP process takes into account information on the Bill of Materials (BOM), production plan, and material plan. Streamline allows you to generate a plan of material requirements based on the demand forecasts of finished products and a bill of materials (BoM).

What our customers say about us

Eric Tewey

Streamline has made a major difference in our forecasting and manufacturing planning. The ease of use, flexibility, and accuracy has far exceeded our expectations. Streamline has helped take our forecasting accuracy from average to world-class; which has a very positive bottom line impact. In addition, to Streamline being a great tool for us, the customer service we receive is second to none: it’s impressive. The time invested in learning our business, our model, and our people has been greatly appreciated and shows in the results.

Eric Tewey
Vice President of IT at Swisher International
Jacob Shallman

GMDH Streamline is the small business demand forecasting dream come true. If you are too small for a huge ERP and big enough to need to track and forecast demand and reorders this is really the perfect tool. It integrates so nicely into QuickBooks and in one click runs your regular reports. It takes out all the hours and hours of manual updating. I love this tool.

Jacob Shallman
CEO at Respiratory Therapeutics Group

Get started with GMDH Streamline for free

Immediate access. No credit card required. All features included.

Download Free »

Streamline Reviews

Contact Info

hello@gmdhsoftware.com
sales@gmdhsoftware.com
support@gmdhsoftware.com
+1 (888) 688-6406 (North America)
+1 (347) 470-4634 (Worldwide)
New York HQ
55 Broadway, 28th Floor
New York, NY, 10006
gmdh-office

Further Reading:

2. SAP Integrated Business Planning (Paid)

SAP Integrated Business Planning software offers planning and consolidation solutions that provide clients with financial forecasting, budgeting, scenario planning, consolidation and collaboration tools. It is absolutely possible to use this ERP for supply chain processes. Advantages and disadvantages of this solution were gathered on Capterra and G2 review platforms and listed below.

SAP integrated business planning
Source: SAP

Pros of using SAP

  1. “As this is still a small group, I became familiar with their staff and made the support even more personable. Very easy to use, as you are basically setting up your hierarchies in Excel.”
  2. “Overall extremely pleased with the application. It was seamless in terms of installation and deployment.”

Cons of using SAP

  1. “Limited documentation on scripts. Training on scripts is very specialized and intensive.”
  2. “The user interface seems outdated. The functionality is confusing for beginners and we have to spend a lot of time training new employees.”
Source: Capterra

Matthew C.

“Legacy tool”

“The planning capability provides additional value to our supply chain”

Source: Capterra

3. Blue Yonder Demand Planning (Paid)

Blue Yonder is a software company that provides supply chain management, manufacturing planning, retail planning, store operations and category management in a software called Luminate Platform.

Blue Yonder Demand Planning (Paid)
Source: BlueYonder

Pros of using Luminate Platform

  1. “I like that this connects all of the specialists in our company and allows us to collaborate on projects.”
  2. “I think it is a good tool and if you have a great training you can enjoy the experience better.”

Cons of using Luminate Platform

  1. “Slow and inefficiently developed but serves the purpose. Tough training and poor and costly support.”
  2. “Essential for demand forecasting and management.”
Source: Capterra

Shaya S.

“Poor design but good functionality”

“Design is outdates and clunky. Slow and inefficiently developed but serves the purpose. Tough training and poor and costly support. Would like to see web version with updated design parameters.”

Source: Capterra

Connor I.

“Good Product overall, outdated interface”

“I like the functionality of JDA`s product, and the fact that it`s mobile-friendly. Our associates are able to view their timecsrds and request time off from the mobile app.”

Source: Capterra

4. Kinaxis RapidResponse (Paid)

Kinaxis is helping companies to reorganize their supply chain planning. Kinaxis RapidResponse is a cloud-based supply chain management software that connects your data, processes and people into a single harmonious environment. RapidResponse’s collection of cloud-based supply chain and S&OP applications supports organizations in high-tech electronics, aerospace & defense, automotive, life sciences and industrial.

Kinaxis RapidResponse (Paid)
Source: Kinaxis rapidresponse S&OP

Pros using RapidResponse

  1. “Is a fantastic tool to use in planning your business. There are many customizable reports and exception base planning.”
  2. “Kinaxis is the best planning simulation tool for our Supply chain Management’s next generation all over the world.”

Cons using RapidResponse

  1. “As i have started using upgraded version for one month, struggles to navigate through the resources. Might be i will get use to it.”
  2. “Need to more user-friendly for Rapid response administrators. Need to have a feature to kill any long query from the backend, still, we are depending on the front-end of the application to kill.”
Source: Capterra

Prasath K.

“kinaxis – Fast and accurate Analytical Planning”

“When we are using the legacy planning system, the Workflow will take nearly 9-11 hours to complete, so the user need to wait till that time to view the data. But after migrated to kinaxis it took just 1 hour to complete our workflow. Most of the calculation are performed by kinaxis using analytical engine and the what if Analysis allows the planner to compare multiple scenarios against one scenario.”

Source: Capterra

Baalaji D.

“Kinaxis – Rapid response – the next Generation’s SCM planning Giant tool!!”

“Overall RR is flexible and user friendly for usage. As a project manager I see good performance with other SCM tools which in turn makes user community more happy.”

Source: Capterra

5. Oracle Demantra (Paid)

Oracle Demantra is a demand management and supply chain management tool provided by Oracle. It helps in enabling automated forecast processes that simultaneously maps demand forecasting against factors such as supply restrictions, customer commitments and inventory counts.

Oracle Demantra (Paid)
Source: Oracle

Pros of using Oracle Demantra

  1. “The ability to pivot the series rather fluidly. It’s almost like a field list selection box for an Excel pivot table.”
  2. “It is an easier to use tool more in the form of a spreadsheet and in which data can be easily downloaded and uploaded. Also it has a inbuilt capabilities to integrate with other Oracle modules like advanced supply chain planning and order management.”

Cons of using Oracle Demantra

  1. “Chaining and Member Management. For NPI and other related scenarios, it’s difficult for users to go through such a complex process.”
  2. “Issue with general levels like we were not able to consider historical data loaded in a general level to generate Forecast from a different forecasting profile. Example: Quantity_Form in Engine profile should be flexible enough to consider the data/column from General Level data table just like it takes from Sales_Data table.”
Source: Capterra

“Functional Tool. Needs more customization options and stability”

What do you like best?

The ability to pivot the series rather fluidly. It`s almost like a field list selection box for an Excel pivot table

What do you dislike?

Using 7.3.1.5. It has a hard time pulling large data sets. Sometimes I want the ability to compile a tabular kind of table structure so I can export the values and manipulate it somewhere else. NOt that I wouldn`t love to use Oracle`s BI, but business security limitations sometimes make it hard. If the records exceed a couple thousand lines with about 10 fields, it really has a hard time and often crashes. Also, in the chart functionality, I would have expected some more color, shape, chart customization options. After all it`s supposed to be your tool to sort through demand effectively.

Source: Capterra

Himanshu. Y

“Demantra Review by Himanshu Yadav”

” 1. User friendly layout to review the data.
2. Using embedded feature, multiple dimensions data can be reviewed at one go.
3. Forecasting Techniques and flexibility to add Causal Factors.
4. Graphical representation option in Worksheet
…”

Source: Capterra

6. Logility Solutions (Paid)

SkuBrain by Logility is a web based demand forecasting and inventory optimization solution. It uses sales history to predict future demand for your products and then makes recommendations, based on current stock levels, as to what you should buy in order to be able to meet that demand or which products might be overstocked. SkuBrain delivers sales and production forecasting, inventory optimization, and replenishment planning for small to midsize suppliers, distributors, and retailers.

Logility Solutions (Paid)
Source: Capterra

Pros of using SkuBrain

  1. “Easy to use. The learning algorithms help breweries optimize projected production, and can easily push or pull data through live integrations or .CSV files. By connecting complimentary systems and sources such as VIP users can automatically import historical depletion and streamline data review without having to save multiple versions through an import export process.”
  2. “Responsive team and customer service.”

Cons using RapidResponse

  1. “No Import/Export Management, Shipping and Transportation Management”
  2. “No in-person training available”
Source: Capterra

Stuart J.

“Great value”

Highly sophisticated forecasting for a simple heirarchy of products, means a great value. SkuBrain is easy to use, with a simple user interface. And continual evolution of the product means the team is behind the product and we can expect more from it over time.”

Source: Capterra

7. NetSuite Demand Planning (Paid)

NetSuite is a software powered by Oracle. This is a powerful software with a lot of features which are good and bad at the same time. From pre-revenue startups to small and mid-size organizations, fast-growing businesses use NetSuite to automate core processes and get real-time insights into operational and financial performance.

NetSuite Demand Planning (Paid)
Source: Capterra

Pros of using NetSuite

  1. “The business intelligence and reporting is excellent and it is easy to expand the use of the software and add new companies as business grows.”
  2. “All inclusive one stop ERP system good for small companies and scalable for the future. Reporting/view features are nice and reminders on the homepage & personalized dashboard are a good touch.”

Cons using NetSuite

  1. “Also, too many unexpected error messages and error messages that misrepresent the actual problem. These force us to google for answers.”
  2. “It is absolutely a nightmare to implement. It is way too complicated to function well. You need to be a developer to be able to do even the most basic augmentations. You might as well just build your own system from the ground up and save yourself the expensive NetSuite bill. The cost is huge and you can’t make adjustments to licenses without long contracts.”
Source: Capterra

Jon F.

“Great Value Cloudbased ERP – Best cloud solution on the market”

“Great experience overall. Time to implement took 6 month, but could have completed in 4. We waited longer to get system configured to meet more of our needs. Have maintained our subscription since 2013 and really like the ease of configuration and always being on the lates version and can take advantage of improvements without added cost for the most part. The business intelligence and reporting is excellent and it is easy to expand the use of the software and add new companies as business grows.”

Source: Capterra

Stefanie S.

“Don`t Use NetSuite”

“Implementation was a nightmare. During Go Live, they lost us tens of thousands of dollars by deleting dozens of sales by accident. Every aspect of it is not user friendly and requires extensive coding knowledge. It is completely the wrong choice for smaller businesses.”

Source: Capterra

8. Relex Solutions (Paid)

Relex is a 100% retail-oriented solution. It helps retailers to be more competitive with cloud-native retail planning solutions. RELEX helps businesses plan better using accurate forecasting and replenishment, profitable use of retail space, and optimized workforce planning.

Relex Solutions (Paid)
Source: Capterra

Pros of using RELEX

  1. INDEPENDENCE FOR BUSINESS – thanks to its ease-of-use and configuration – a process owner/super-user can easily conduct the needed configurations to achieve the desired results without being dependent on developers or IT department
  2. Usability and flexibility. To be able to customize our own environment as a user and company is very valuable and somewhat rare.

Cons using RELEX

  1. “The one challenge RELEX presents is due to the amazing flexibility there needs to be strong governance structure to maintain process control, best practices and keeping training materials updated. Being a cloud based it’s not a real time system however through multiple feeds and RELEX’s speed of consumption and calculation it’s close.”
  2. “Interface isn’t friendly for small monitors/screens. It would be really helpful if we had the ability to click/drag to expand the homeview. Also, it would be helpful if the column headers auto-wrapped so it didn’t cut values off. The ability to have 2 RELEX internet windows up at once would be really helpful too. Alphabetically sorting the dimensions/parameters/metrics would be a HUGE help.”
Source: Capterra

Brian W.

“The experiance with RELEX team has been refreshingly different than with any other software company”

Pros:
  1. The flexibility of the system to be configured at multiple levels to achieve desired result. I have found if I can drem it, the functionality is likely available through configurations adjustments.
  2. Most processes are automated with exception based alerts to address outliers.
  3. We feed all key information to RELEX so seldom does a user need to go to other systems to get data.
  4. The ability to consume big data quickly, produce reports ad hock or scheduled and auto send to others.
  5. The forecast accuracy was solid right out of the box and through exception base process resolve item with forecast accuracy below 80%. It`s easy to send forecasts to vendors too. Still learning how but have strong support from RELEX in doing that.
  6. The user interface is also configurable allowing user to add or remove attributes as needed. Easy to navigate especially if the user is familiar with excel.
  7. The flexibility of formats RELEX can accept for data feeds and history loads made our IT teams work easier than expected.
  8. The team behind the software has been fantastic in supporting the business and IT throughout the implementation and rollout
  9. Truck building logic works well (Accurate master data is required)

Cons: The one challenge RELEX presents is due to the amazing flexibility there needs to be strong governance structure to maintain process control, best practices and keeping training materials updated. Being a cloud based it`s not real time system however through multiple feeds and RELEX`s speed of consumption and calculation it`s close.

Source: Capterra

9. Anaplan (Paid)

Anaplan is an American planning software company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Anaplan sells subscriptions for cloud-based business-planning software and provides data for decision-making purposes.

Anaplan (Paid)
Source: KPS consulting business analytics

Pros using Anaplan

  1. “This software is great for companies looking for what-if scenario planning, forecasting and budgeting, workforce planning and tracking competitor data. It really has the all in one functionality for companies looking for a clean overview of their business.”
  2. “UI is like a spreadsheet for sure.”

Cons using Anaplan

  1. Initial setup requires a lot of learning and time. Their training session is several days and still requires additional follow up work and communication with their implementation team.
  2. “Graphs and data visualization is also far lacking compared with Tableau or even Excel.”
Source: Capterra

Verified Reviewer

“Anaplan is a huge time saver”

Pros: Before Anaplan, we were on excel documents that required many versions and iterations. We started with financial planning as a model and have since expanded into other solutions for issues that have arisen. The goal is to continue to plug new models into this tool, like many power users I’ve seen at Anaplan conferences, in order to get all of our data on one platform.

Cons: Initial set up requires a lot of learning and time. Their training session is several days and still requires additional follow up work and communication with their implementation team. Graphs and data visualization is also far lacking compared with Tableau or even Excel.

Source: Capterra

10. Infor CloudSuite SCP (Paid)

Infor CloudSuite Supply Chain Planning is an integrated planning platform that enables companies to create, manage, collaborate, and coordinate plans across their supply chain—from demand plan creation through supply-side response, and from detailed, operational-response planning to strategic business planning.

Infor CloudSuite SCP (Paid)
Source: Software advice

Pros using Infor CloudSuite Supply Chain Planning

  1. “Ability to look more in-depth with data, better visualization tools”
  2. “Good visibility of the manufacturing process from beginning to end. Easy to process purchase orders for invoicing customers”

Cons using Infor CloudSuite Supply Chain Planning

  1. “It takes up a little too much time to review the forms. When dealing with multiple currencies, there is too much manual work to do. Learning curve is very steep. There are many things that you figure out on your own.”
  2. “Data entry errors are hard to trace. Training is complicated and requires a lot of upfront data entry”
Source: Infor CloudSuite SCP

About the Author:

Alex Koshulko, Ph.D., Co-founder and Product Owner at GMDH Inc., leading supply chain planning expert with more than 10 years of experience in demand forecasting, inventory planning and optimization.