NetSuite Inc., a provider of financial and enterprise resource planning software in the cloud, has added new demand-planning features to its business-management suite. NetSuite Demand Planning is aimed at wholesalers, manufacturers, retailers and distributors. It helps companies to forecast peaks and troughs in demand, and minimize capital tied up in inventory. According to the vendor, the demand-planning capability bridges the gap between the front and back office, allowing companies to align sales forecasts with inventory replenishment plans. Businesses can use sales forecasts to build inventory plans or augment them with special predictions, such as marketing input in new product launches. Inventory plans can be built using statistical forecasting models, such as linear regression, moving averages and seasonal averages, based on historical sales data. In another company development, NetSuite has formed a systems integrator partnership with Burr Pilger Mayer, the California-based accounting and consulting firm. The arrangement gives BPM a foundation for building a cloud integration practice focused on implementing and supporting NetSuite's cloud computing global business management suites, as well as building vertical SuiteApps for the NetSuite SuiteCloud platform.
