Past Performance Predicts Future 2Past Performance Predicts Future 2

Business leaders trying to grope their way through the uncertain economy may be ready to turn to tea leaves and tarot cards for guidance. This week, E-Intelligence Inc. will unveil something more sophisticated: a new version of its predictive-intelligence software for demand-planning applications.

By analyzing sales information in a data warehouse, E-Intelligence Suite 3.5 improves a business' ability to assess future demand for its products. Improved visibility lets companies adjust product planning, pricing, promotion, distribution, and inventory-replenishment strategies to meet anticipated demand. E-Intelligence Suite is part of a new generation of business intelligence that uses the data to predict the future.

E-Intelligence Suite 3.5 uses a data warehouse's business rules, hierarchies, and metrics to monitor demand from a summary level down to details such as individual products, customers, and regions. The software also provides "what-if" analytical capabilities that help managers understand how changes in pricing, promotional spending, and product mix will affect demand and profit margins.

Available in March, starting at $190,000, the release also offers a number of performance enhancements, including an Internet-native architecture with an HTML interface, visualization tools for creating two-and three-dimensional charts, and speed and scalability improvements.

The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. is implementing the E-Intelligence Suite in its consumer tire operations in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear will use the software to fine-tune forecasts of product demand from its distributors and mass merchandisers, says John Polanc, manager of Goodyear's business-intelligence unit. The findings will be fed back into the manufacturer's supply chain-production materials forecast system. "This will give us a much more automated, more integrated approach to demand planning," he says. The analysis also will help Goodyear align its marketing efforts with demand. Goodyear also plans to use the software for off-road, commercial, aviation, and farm tire operations during the next six months.

E-Intelligence Suite 3.5 is an effective way to leverage corporate data warehouses for "very intensive, granular data analysis" for companywide supply and demand planning, Aberdeen Group analyst Bob Moran says. The software requires a data warehouse to work--a big investment if a company doesn't have one.