SmartForecasts Enterprise's intermittent demand forecasting technology helps companies produce accurate demand forecasts for slow-moving, infrequently demanded items. This capability enables companies to optimize inventory mix to ensure both product availability and quick deliveryand at the same time minimize stocking levels to reduce inventory costs. Intermittent demand affects capital goods manufacturers, as well as the $700 billion spare parts business in industries such as aerospace, automotive, electronics, industrial tools, and utilities.

Niagara Cutter, with headquarters in Amherst, New York, is using SmartForecasts Enterprise to significantly reduce inventories, and at the same time, reposition its inventory to better meet customer demand. The company is a leader in cutting tool technology, making tooling products and tool technology for the metalworking industry. More than ninety-five percent of the company's 24,000 SKUs demonstrate intermittent demand.

"Typically in today's market the manufacturer has to stock, and you'd better have on the shelf exactly what your customers need," according to Sherwood Bollier, president of Niagara Cutter. "Since we started using SmartForecasts, we've discovered new ways to drastically reduce our inventory and reposition our assets to increase customer service levels. Looking ahead, we expect to achieve a 50% reduction in total inventory resources and a doubling of inventory turns."

Rally Manufacturing of Miami, Florida is a leading supplier to the automotive aftermarket. Eighty-five percent of Rally's 2,500 SKUs have intermittent demand. Rally is using SmartForecasts Enterprise to help plan inventory needs in its manufacturing facilities around the world. The product's intermittent demand forecasting capabilities are helping the company produce more accurate sales forecasts and better understand their inventory requirements.

"We wanted a forecasting tool that would help us plan our inventory needs better," said Barbara White Schumacher, Inventory Specialist at Rally. "SmartForecasts gives us the most accurate numbers that we could hope for, given we have so many intermittently demanded SKUs. It has made a significant, and positive change, in the way we manage our inventory."

Milliken and Company purchased a site license for SmartForecasts Enterprise as its core forecasting system and plans to use many of its advanced features to streamline its forecasting processes. Based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Milliken is the world's largest privately held textile and chemical manufacturer with more than 60 manufacturing facilities worldwide.

In addition, the following companies have also purchased SmartForecasts licenses: Beretta U.S.A., the world's oldest firearms manufacturer; Keeper Corporation, the world's largest manufacturer of tie-downs, towing and bungee cord products; Vulcan Materials, a leading producer of construction aggregates and chemicals; and Tyco Electronics, Germany, a manufacturer of electronic component products.

Smart Software

Founded in 1984, Smart Software, Inc. is a leader in helping businesses accurately forecast and plan enterprise resources. Smart Software's flagship product, SmartForecasts, has thousands of installations worldwide, including many Fortune 500 companies, medium-sized and small businesses. SmartForecasts gives demand planners the tools to handle seasonality, promotions, new and aging products, multivariate analysis, and intermittent product demand. It also provides inventory managers with accurate estimates of the minimum inventory required to satisfy specified customer service levels. Smart Software can be found on the World Wide Web at www.smartcorp.com.

SmartForecasts is a trademark of Smart Software, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.