Best Practice Demand Planning Summit: Fleur Smits – Straathof

Let’s get to know our Best Practice Demand Planning Summit Speaker, Fleur Smits – Straathof. She is the Inventory Specialist of Slimstock. She will also give an overview of her session; inventory optimisation: the link between demand and supply.

What inspires you to be part of the supply chain sector?

I get a lot of satisfaction from aligning and improving processes in order to boost a company’s performance. Second of all, the fact that Supply Chain Management (SCM) is becoming more complex because of new technologies, international competition and the urge to reduce carbon emissions requires you to be highly adoptable and to stay on top of the latest developments. Furthermore SCM requires you to be a team player and have strong communication skills; There are so many departments which have a direct input on your supply chain or are effected by its outcomes.

What is the key theme you want people to talk away from your talk?

1. Why it is important to align the inventory strategy with the overall company’s strategy, and where to start.

2. Why it is important to align forecasting with inventory management

Can you please give us a brief preview of your talk/panel discussion?

My aim is to give people tips on how they can align a company’s inventory strategy with their overall company strategy. This is of significant importance since you want to make sure you have the right active assortment in the right quantities. There are many examples of companies that failed because of not having the right assortment.

Furthermore, forecasting and inventory should be integrated within a company to have the optimal results, but why exactly and how do you do achieve this.

What’s the best lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?

Supply Chain Management and Inventory Management are a profession. It isn’t something you can do from the sideline as it has a significant impact on the overall performance and can therefore make or break a company.

What advice can you give to those who are looking at a career in Supply Chain?

Be open minded, eager to learn and make sure you network a lot. If you have a passion for the subject people will notice.

About Best Practice Demand Planning Summit

The Best Practice Demand Planning Summit is the ONLY event bringing together demand and supply planners across Australia. Happening this 24-25 March 2020 at the Stamford in Melbourne, this event will tackle creating a benchmark for best practice and an action plan on how to achieve it with improved forecast accuracy, more effective inventory management and a focus on delivering value to the end customer.

The summit will also bring together practical case studies from leading global companies to showcase how people, process and technology contribute to effective planning processes. With interactive round table discussions, panels and countless networking opportunities, demand planners across the country will have the opportunity to share ideas, solutions and forecast the future of their function. Featuring innovations with technology and systems, as well as insights into achieving efficiencies across the planning process, this is the one event for planners you can’t afford to miss.

Catch more of Fleur Smits – Straathof on the stage of Best Practice Demand Planning Summit! Register and learn more about this event here.