In the rapidly evolving landscape of corporate planning and forecasting, OneStream is constantly creating innovative tools to stay ahead of the curve. Sensible ML, integrated with OneStream, offers a modern solution that does not require in-house data scientists or deep expertise in machine learning (ML). However, for organizations with ML-savvy personnel, Sensible ML provides advanced capabilities to enhance their planning processes.
In this blog, we will explore how Sensible ML can transform strategic planning, annual operating planning (AOP), and demand planning across various industries.
Strategic Planning with Sensible Machine Learning
Strategic planning is essential for providing a clear vision and roadmap for an organization's future. Sensible ML can significantly enhance this process by creating sophisticated forecasts based on historical time series data. Here’s how it works:
Long-Term Forecasting:
Organizations often need to create 3 or 5-year forecasts to support their strategic planning processes. By inputting 60 historical data points (equivalent to 5 years of monthly data) into Sensible ML, the tool generates a robust statistical forecast model. This univariate model can be seamlessly deployed across OneStream, helping businesses identify strategic choices and drive competitive growth.
Enhancing Annual Operating Planning (AOP)
Annual Operating Planning requires translating top-down financial goals into detailed, bottom-up monthly plans. This process can be complex, involving hundreds of forecasts across various product categories, sales channels, and customers. Sensible ML simplifies this by:
Granular Forecasting
By inputting 150-250 historical monthly data points, Sensible ML enriches the source data with external macro-economic factors and automatically generates the most influential features for modeling.
Model Selection
It compares and contrasts various predictive models such as ARIMA and SARIMA, automatically selecting the highest-performing models for each forecast target. This capability ensures that organizations can create accurate and reliable forecasts to guide their annual operating plans effectively.
Optimizing Demand Planning and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP)
Demand Planning and S&OP require highly granular, product, and location-level forecasts to inform tactical decisions in staffing, procurement, logistics, and inventory management. Sensible ML excels in this domain by:
Advanced ML Capabilities
With 250+ historical data points, Sensible ML leverages advanced ML modeling techniques. It incorporates business-specific events, promotions, and holidays through its event builder, ensuring forecasts reflect real-world influences.
Feature Generation and Selection
The tool automatically generates features and selects the most impactful variables. This ensures that the most accurate model is chosen for each forecast target.
Model Comparison
Sensible ML contrasts various ML methods, cycling through to surface the highest-performing model types for deployment across OneStream. This results in highly accurate and actionable forecasts that can is available for use to optimize day-to-day operations.
Is Sensible ML Right for Your Organization?
Sensible ML is particularly suited for OneStream SaaS customers with time series forecasting needs. Whether your focus is on daily, weekly, or monthly demand planning, Sensible ML can handle a range of predictive models tailored to your historical data. Its application spans across FP&A and operational teams in numerous industries, providing scalable and reliable forecasting capabilities.
Want to leverage ML?
Sensible ML, integrated with OneStream, offers a powerful solution for businesses looking to enhance their forecasting and planning processes. Its ability to generate sophisticated models without requiring in-house ML expertise makes it an attractive option for organizations of all sizes. From strategic planning to granular demand forecasting, Sensible ML provides the tools necessary to drive informed decision-making and competitive growth.
By leveraging Sensible ML, your organization can unlock new levels of accuracy and efficiency in its planning processes, ensuring you stay ahead in a dynamic business environment. If you are a OneStream customer looking to optimize your forecasting capabilities, Sensible ML might be the perfect fit for your needs. Explore how Sensible ML can transform your planning processes and drive your business forward.
