Resources

In a consumer-driven supply chain, preparing for drastic shifts in purchasing behavior is a must. Use this guide to anticipate these changes during the school year, when demand variables are sure to throw off sales and supply plans.

How to Prepare for a Potentially Volatile Back-to-School Season

Read more

September is here and change is in the air. This week's news features the ubiquity of oatmilk-based items, the emergence of dark stores, and the refreshing of a 167-year-old cookie classic.

Oatmilk Everything and the Pursuit of the Gen-Z Consumer: CPG News, Week of Aug 31-Sept 4

Read more

Chocolate, Trees & Bees: CPG News, Week of Aug 24-28

As August comes to an end, all eyes are on autumn. This week's news features environmentally-conscious brands, the emergence of social commerce, and a lawsuit about dairy-related labeling for plant-based brands.

Read more

Beverage Boom, Baller Investments & Black-Owned Brands: CPG News, Week of Aug 17-21

Summer's hot and, like usual, the CPG industry is blazing. This week's news features canned tuna, NBA-led beverage funding, spicy spice sales and how candy-makers are preparing for a most unusual Halloween consumer landscape.

Read more

21 Best Practices for Demand Planning and Forecasting Professionals [Actionable Guide + Expert Methods]

Demand planning is a complex process, that's for sure, especially given how quickly consumer behavior and market conditions can change. In this guide, we detail how automation, AI, and data science can bring your company's forecasts to the next level.

Read more

How Dream Pops Saved $110,000 in Overhead After Automating Operations With Unioncrate

"We were running a lot of things manually—even to the point of writing out checks and invoices and mailing them. Our processes were a big time suck and caused a lot of frustration.”

Read more

How Unioncrate Helps SOUND Brands Run Its Entire Operation With a Small Team

“Unioncrate removes the stress and headache of trying to manage several Excel sheets and inventory. It also eliminates the potential for error. That lifts a huge burden because you know your inventory is based on what’s actually there.”

Read more

How Jade Leaf Matcha Runs a Multimillion-Dollar Business With a Team of Just 5

“We were starting to expand and dramatically increase our sales. I could just foresee a point in time where we were going to have this collision course. We’d be trying to open up more doors, but still trying to handle everything in a very manual and...

Read more

How Fishin’ Co. Increased Forecast Accuracy and Saved Millions in Carrying Costs With Unioncrate

In order to reduce inventory management costs, Fishin' Co. asked Unioncrate to improve upon its own internal forecast accuracy. This is how Unioncrate's Demand Planning AI delivered and saved the world's leading tilapia importer millions in carrying costs.

Read more

How a Category Leader Uses Unioncrate’s AI to Rapidly Meet Demand During Covid-19

In a matter of weeks, Unioncrate’s AI self-adjusted to account for unprecedented variables like pantry loading and stockouts, resulting in forecast accuracy near its yearly mean of 84.3%.

Read more

How Dream Pops Saved $110,000 in Overhead After Automating Operations With Unioncrate

"We were running a lot of things manually—even to the point of writing out checks and invoices and mailing them. Our processes were a big time suck and caused a lot of frustration.”

Read more

How Unioncrate Helps SOUND Brands Run Its Entire Operation With a Small Team

Read more

How Jade Leaf Matcha Runs a Multimillion-Dollar Business With a Team of Just 5

Read more

How BOU Brands Saves $120,000 Each Year With Unioncrate Versus a Bloated ERP

“Being a startup, our supply chain processes were very manually intensive. It was becoming very challenging, and with all of our growth and the number of distribution points we were now in, mistakes were starting to be made.”

Read more

How to Prepare for a Potentially Volatile Back-to-School Season

Read more

21 Best Practices for Demand Planning and Forecasting Professionals [Actionable Guide + Expert Methods]

Read more

The New Rules of Demand Planning for 2020 & Beyond [Complete Guide + eBook]

In a year marked by unprecedented changes, our demand planning eBook is the essential guide to navigating the new normal of CPG. We explain why automation, data, and AI are vital to high forecast accuracy, supply chain efficiencies, and consumer insights.

Read more

Why Clean Data Is Crucial to Demand Planning and Forecast Accuracy

Just as high-quality ingredients are essential to the finest meals, large sets of clean data are a prerequisite for producing highly accurate demand forecasts.

Read more

5 Steps to More Accurate Demand Forecasts

The right demand forecasting process can pay huge dividends for your business. But in order to understand and leverage key demand drivers, you first need the have the right data, the right people, and the right software in place. Here's a step-by-step guide.

Read more

The Critical Importance of Demand Forecasting

Nothing is more important than accuracy when it comes to demand forecasting. The higher the accuracy, the better. It can help businesses run more efficient S&OP meetings, scale with efficiency, and reduce costs across the entire supply chain.

Read more

Demand Planning Vs. Demand Forecasting

Though they are unmistakably linked, demand planning and demand forecasting are not the same thing. We explain the key differences and similarities between them and demonstrate why forecast accuracy is essential to demand planning and to the overall S&OP...

Read more

Intro to Demand Planning

Predicting consumer demand is a tough nut to crack. The most effective demand planners have the tools to predict demand accurately and execute a confident supply chain strategy to meet future demand in its tracks...

Read more

CPG Data Science: How Data Science Helps CPG Companies

Implementing Machine Learning models and Artificial Intelligence is becoming the norm for CPG brands looking to leverage their data to gain more accurate demand forecasts, maximize sales, and reduce working capital. We explain how to easily implement...

Read more

Unioncrate's Glossary of CPG and Supply Chain Terms [Updated]

Call us biased, but we think the CPG Industry is an incredibly exciting landscape—from consumer behavior and e-Commerce platforms to supply chain and demand planning technologies that provide a competitive edge, and so much more...

Read more

Full Guide: Inventory Shrinkage [Overview + Case Study]

Inventory loss is inevitable, but it doesn't have to hurt so much. To gain an understanding of its root causes, it's important to utilize a supply chain management tool that can reduce shrink rates and increase profit margins...

Read more

Guide to Excess Inventory: What is it and how can it impact your business?

Carrying and managing excess can be very costly, and it's important to know the risks involved. We examine the causes of overstock as well as its impact on inventory management and supply chain operations.

Read more

What's a Bill of Materials and How Do I Create One?

What parts are necessary to manufacture a product? That's the job of a Bill of Materials, a roadmap to a finished good. We explore its features and provide a free guide to creating your own...

Read more

Essential SKU Strategy Guide

Implementing a consistent and scalable SKU strategy is critical to effective inventory management and overall growth. So what's the best way to get the job done?

Read more

Tyler, The Ice Cream Collaborator: CPG News, Week of Sept 14-18

Read more

The Shopping Experience Grows Up Fast: CPG News, Week of Sept 7-11

September is here! This week's news features eCommerce and retail behemoths race to meet consumers where they are, the continued emergence of plant-based items, and a CPG-meets-fast-casual partnership that bodes well for the industry.

Read more

Oatmilk Everything and the Pursuit of the Gen-Z Consumer: CPG News, Week of Aug 31-Sept 4

September is here and change is in the air. This week's news features the ubiquity of oatmilk-based items, the emergence of dark stores, and the refreshing of a 167-year-old cookie classic.

Read more

Chocolate, Trees & Bees: CPG News, Week of Aug 24-28

Read more

Beverage Boom, Baller Investments & Black-Owned Brands: CPG News, Week of Aug 17-21

Read more

Unioncrate's Ultimate Guide to Reddit for CPG Brands [Updated]

The online community is a gem for discussing just about every topic under the sun. But did you know that it's also an invaluable resource for consumer insights, supply chain expertise, e-commerce, brand-building, data science, and all things CPG.

Read more

5 Ways to Strengthen the Foundations of Your Business

From solidifying financials to utilizing technology to maximize efficiencies, here are 5 actionable steps to help you gain perspective and implement strategies to overcome the inevitable challenges that may be thrown your way.

Read more

How Shopify is Empowering Small Businesses

Founder and CEO Tobias Lütke on creating opportunities for Shopify’s ‘one million merchants’

Read more

Q&A: Todd Hale, Consumer Research Expert

A wide-ranging conversation with the former SVP of Consumer and Shopper Insights at Nielsen about wellness claims, meal kits, delivery, e-commerce, the future of automation and the vital role of data in the world of CPG.

Read more

How Petit Pot's Tiny Jars of Gourmet French Pudding Are Winning Over American Consumers

Entrepreneur Maxime Pouvreau perfected his pot de crème recipe as a pastry chef at San Francisco restaurants. Years later, his brand, Petit Pot, enjoys nationwide distribution and a booming DTC business. But it hasn't come without major challenges.

Read more

How Renewal Mill Transforms Waste Into Revenue, One Upcycled Product at a Time

Like many CPG brands, the coronavirus forced Renewal Mill to make strategic shifts midstream. With a focus on DTC channels and new product development, the forward-thinking brand is reaching a new generation of conscious consumers who put the planet first.

Read more

SOUND's Mission-Driven Brand Is Bubbling Up Change in a Booming Category

This is the journey of two young engineers who built a sustainable beverage business based on a shared vision of bringing health and transparency to a booming category. SOUND Brands Co-founder Salim Najjar on his company's sparkling journey.

Read more

How High Road Took Luxury Ice Cream Mainstream

Ice cream by chefs, for chefs. This was High Road Craft Brands' original business plan at least. But 10 years in, the Atlanta-based company has grown significantly, slowly but surely adding private label and retail into its dynamic business model.

Read more