ReleaseWire

MyLibook personalized children's book series makes beginning readers want to learn how to read all about themselves.

Estate planning is vital for ensuring that upon death, the people nearest and dearest will be provided for. In the LGBTQ community, there can still be considerable acrimony between individuals and family members. As laws change, it's important to stay on top of changing state laws that can have significant estate and tax implications. For more, go to: https://kushnerlegal.com/estate-planning-for-the-lgbtq-community/

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that Demand Driven MRP (DDMRP) implementation has five components - Strategic inventory positioning: A dramatic improvement proposed by DDMRP.

Lodestone Consulting Services, LLC, published a pair of unique new guides to advertising on the Facebook online social networking service. Taken together, the two guides provide a helpful, comprehensive introduction to the subject that aims at helping business owners and decision-makers realize the potential to be found in Facebook advertising. The first guide takes readers through a step-by-step analysis of whether and in which ways Facebook advertising is likely to benefit a given business, while the second guide conveys five powerful, proven tips for making the most of Facebook ads. Lodestone Consulting Services is a leading digital marketing consultancy, with a special focus on helping technology companies improve their lead generation, conversion rates, and sales.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that, El Exito, the largest retailer of Colombia, awarded MIC "Best Supplier of the Year" in the category of textiles/clothing. MIC was selected amongst 500 companies, some of them extremely successful and that are known for their good practices in design, manufacturing, and distribution. While that is a significant accomplishment in and of itself, what is even more significant is how far MIC came along in total performance in just 18 months. MIC produces children's garments under licenses from companies like Disney and Mattel. When walking through the plant, one sees an amazing range of child favorites like Barbie, Mickey, Minnie, Hello Kitty, and Spiderman.

Increased adoption of automation will help manufacturers create new revenue streams and lower costs. Real-time demand fulfillment will require tight integration of supply chain, production, logistics, and marketing. The ability to sense demand in real-time and respond by changing prices or promotions through the utilization of segmented logistics, inventory, and performance capacities, will allow for the optimization of integrated responses. While re-shoring will continue but supply chains will remain global, large and complex. Re-shoring will continue, but supply chains will remain global, large and complex. Forecast Errors newsletter is reporting weekly how these trends are changing the growth of various inventory automation efficiencies.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported Chad Smith, a leader in the Demand Driven institute and author of a blog, focused primarily on the Theory of Constraints and how to use it to maximize the profitability of any company. Smith discussed why integrating TOC with Lean and Six Sigma is the most dynamic improvement methodology available today. Recently he shared how David Proveda, Director of Demand Driven Institute, LATAM, posted a sensational improvement project entitled Reversal of Fortune - From Crisis to "Supplier of the Year" in 18 months. Proveda will be presenting the full case study at the 2015 Demand Driven World Conference in Houston, Texas in March 2015.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that in today's omni-channel environment, calculating demand is more challenging than ever. The huge growth in online shopping (and expensive delivery costs) has forced retailers to rethink fulfillment strategy. Retailers are trying to deliver items to online shoppers as quickly as possible, and to do this efficiently, they are beginning to turn stores into mini-fulfillment centers. Often, it is faster and less expensive to fulfill an order from a local store, rather than from the distribution center located across the county.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that sales forecasts are not just toting numbers and planning for a peak retail season has been fine-tuned to the last detail.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported sales forecasting is an activity that consumes an enormous amount of management's time, yet few organizations are happy with the accuracy of their collective forecasting efforts. So how is it that sales forces can expend so much effort on forecasting and still produce revenue predictions that are lower than expected? Vantage Point recently turned its research engine toward sales forecasting in an effort to identify the sources of forecasting failure as well as the best practices that can make sales forecasting more accurate. Many sales forces are using forecasting models that do not reflect the way their sales forces actually sell. The predominant forecasting approach is to build the sales forecast from a pipeline of opportunities that are being actively pursued by the sales force. Each opportunity is slotted into a stage of the company's sales process, and a percentage is then applied to the deals in each stage to generate a probability-adjusted revenue prediction.

ToLocal, on the back of the success of International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has gone ahead and registered for 17 noteworthy events in the year and there's more to come for the benefit of its members.

On January 30th, Desi Hip Hop artist Haji Springer released his first studio album. Entitled Survivor, the album has created an unbelievable response from hip hop fans that can be likened to the heat created by Dr Dre's Chronic album. Desi Hip Hop were the first to make this comparison, and believe the album will go down in history as one of the first definitive DesiHipHop Classics.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that understanding customer demand is key to any manufacturer to make and keep sufficient long-lead inventory so that customer orders can be correctly met. Forecasts are never perfect but are valuable in better preparedness for the actual demand. Accurate and timely demand plans are a vital component of an effective Value Chain.

Manufacturing companies often use a Material Requirements Planning (MRP) forecast as a basis for Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP). Cynthia Leonard, Ultriva's marketing executive discussed on the company blog that MRP and supplier forecasting produce more problems in the supply chain than they solve.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that the Institute of Business Forecasting & Planning – IBF Blog, recently had Tom Savage discuss the IBF Best Practices Conference and Leadership Forum. Big Data was an underlying commonality between speakers and had to address at some point in their company's journey in forecasting as well. There were consummate professionals and experts in the field from companies such as L'Oreal, Coca-Cola, Motorola Mobility, Tastykake, Hershey's, and Tempur Sealy International just to name a few. Collectively there were hundreds of years of experience all in one place and very willing to share their experiences and expertise. During the Executive Leadership Forum on the first day, it became clear that this conference was going to be a bit different than those of the past.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that IMPO magazine reported, employee theft is not the only potential problem manufacturers face. Complex production processes and the sheer volume of products and materials in the warehouse can make it hard to get a handle on inventory. That can result inventory shrinkage, where the actual number of items on shelves is lower than the number of recorded items. In the manufacturing world, shrinkage can also refer to the loss of raw materials, such as metal or food ingredients, during the production process. Regardless of what went missing or how it went astray, even small amounts of inventory shrinkage have a big effect on the bottom line. A loss of $100 worth of products and a business which operates on a 10 percent profit margin requires an extra $1,000 worth of items to make up for the loss.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that Heather Grossmuller noted when an executive thinks of procurement management, he or she most often considers management of direct product or service purchases. Yet, in many ways, corporations are themselves consumers, obtaining whatever necessary assets required for operations to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Whether office supplies, fittings and fasteners, or disposable tools, indirect materials can present a large potential for cost savings.

ToLocal recently made its presence felt at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada drawing attention to several products and services.

Ultriva, Inc., provider of cloud-based supply chain execution software, announced the addition of a successful industrial company specializing in oil field electrical construction and maintenance, to their growing list of customers. The manufacturer specializing in industrial electrical supplies serving the oil and gas industries selected Ultriva as their technology provider and partner for enterprise-wide Supply Chain Management software initiative.

Fisil LLC, a software development company, added Lync 2013 video calling to its Lync Linux software client for Microsoft Lync. Its client is available for download at the Fisil LLC website.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that CleanBayArea, excess and obsolete inventory write-offs are chronic supply chain problems costing businesses billions of dollars each year. Lean Six Sigma methods have been shown to be very effective in finding and eliminating root causes, and thus preventing arbitrary year-end reductions in inventory investment.

The Official Benks Technology USA is proud to announce that they have just released their impact proof, market leading, multi-layered glass screen protectors to the US market. Introducing a world debut for the worlds thinnest mobile phone screen protector for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. They will be the first of many dynamic, state-of-the-art digital accessories that they intend to launch. Their aim is to continue to establish themselves as a market leader within the industry, renowned for providing extremely well-designed products at near-impossible prices.

A B2B Overseas Expansion Platform that was recently launched creates a comprehensive resource system for its members that can benefit from it to a great extent.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that James Covert featured in the New York Post, Smith & Wesson warned that sales and profits for the current quarter will sorely miss its earlier forecasts as demand for firearms plummets following last year's boom. Smith & Wesson's rifle sales dropped by more than 50 percent in the most recent quarter, fueling an overall sales decline of 22 percent, the company said. Handgun sales were down 15 percent. Last year, demand surged following the late-2012 shootings in Sandy Hook, which spurred panic buying from gun enthusiasts fearing tightened regulations by the Obama administration. In response, manufacturers led by Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger made big bets on 2014 business that never panned out. CEO James Debney said the company is scrambling to slash inventory as the gun market returns to "a more normalized environment."

T3 Advisors, a global real estate services and consulting firm, today announced the addition of Caroline Quick as vice president as the company expands operations in the Bay Area. The former head of workplace at Twitter will support T3's global technology clients as they navigate, select and manage their real estate portfolios worldwide.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that Dan Gilmore, Editor-in-Chief of Supply Chain Digest, discussed the inventory-to-sales ratio, as tracked by the US government. It measures on-hand inventory levels against one month's worth of sales. Other than the wild gyration in 2008-09 associated with the great recession, inventory levels have been flat for a decade, even gently rising in the past few years. There is a general bias in the last few years towards top line revenue growth, relatedly SKU proliferation and new product introductions, and longer offshore supply chains. But more provocatively, many companies may have simply hit an inventory wall within the context of their current supply chain designs. The imperative to map and model a company's supply chain took on extra urgency after the events of 2012 - earthquake and tsunami in Japan and massive flooding in Thailand, which caused huge supply chain disruptions.

REGEN Energy Inc., originators of the industry leading Swarm Energy Management® solution for demand response and demand management, and Ayla Networks, provider of the industry's first Agile Internet of Things (IoT) platform, unveiled a strategic partnership on January 26, to expand the market for products and services for helping commercial and industrial customers lower their energy consumption and costs.