Global supply chains are becoming more complex, creating deeply interdependent networks that need to balance supply, demand, and capacity.
On one side, changing consumer behaviors and expectations significantly alter required inventory levels, especially with end‑to‑end lead times measured in weeks or months.
On the other side, unpredictable events create supply‑based uncertainties that can easily impact upstream and downstream partners.
In the middle, you have third‑party logistics providers working to optimize capacity and throughput to meet the needs of suppliers and clients.
This delicate supply chain ecosystem fundamentally relies on access to timely and accurate data - not just on what’s happened in the past, but more importantly on what’s happening now or will happen next.
This makes accurate supply chain and logistics forecasting critical to meeting marketplace demands, understanding international lead times, predicting disruptive events, and managing the entire network.
In this guide, we break some of that complexity down, focusing on several key areas:
We then propose a framework for implementing strong logistics forecasting throughout your supply chain, including internal business integration, external supply chain and stakeholder management, logistics forecasting development, and delivering actionable intelligence.
Our hope is that this provides you with a strong and useful foundation for understanding logistics forecasting and partnering with the right logistics provider to optimize every aspect of your supply chain.