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Describes a supply chain with very quick (i.e., two week) response times and allows students to explore how such short response times are achieved. Allows students to explore why other supply chains, with much longer response times, might not be able to replicate this performance.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 601072.

Despite all the data that retailers and e-tailers can now gather about point-of-purchase information, buying patterns, and customer tastes, they still haven't figured out how to offer the right product, in the right place, at the right time, for the right price. But some retailers are moving profitably toward what the authors call "rocket science retailing"--a blend of traditional forecasting systems, which are largely based on the gut feel of employees, with the prowess of information technology. The authors recently finished surveying 32 retail companies in which they tracked practices and progress in four areas critical to rocket science retailing: demand forecasting, supply-chain speed, inventory planning, and data gathering and organization. In this article, the authors look at some companies that have excelled in those four areas and offer some valuable advice for other businesses seeking retailing perfection. In particular, the authors emphasize the need to monitor crucial metrics such as forecast accuracy, early sales data, and stockouts--information that will help retailers determine when to tweak their supply-chain processes to get the right products to stores at just the right time.

Never has so much technology and brainpower been applied to improving supply chain performance. But the performance of many supply chains has never been worse. Why haven't the new ideas and technologies led to improved performance? Because, Marshall Fisher says, companies lack a framework for deciding which ones are best for their particular situation. Fisher offers such a framework to help managers understand the nature of the demand for their products and devise the supply chain that can best satisfy that demand.

Faced with an unprecedented number and variety of products on the market, managers are finding it more difficult to predict demand and plan production and orders accordingly. As a result, inaccurate forecasts are increasing and, along with them, the costs of those errors. A new approach to the entire forecasting, planning, and production process, accurate response entails first figuring out what forecasters can and cannot predict well. Then supply chains must be made fast and flexible so that managers can postpone decisions about their most unpredictable items until they have some market signals--like early-season sales results--to help correctly match supply with demand. Accurate response enables companies to use the power of flexible manufacturing and shorter cycle time much more effectively.