HISTORY OF FLOWCASTING

A number of important developments have contributed to the

history and evolution of Flowcasting. This timeline depicts

these events and chronicles the pioneering work of Andre

Martin, Darryl Landvater, Jeff Harrop and Mike Doherty.

Flowcasting, like any paradigm

change, is the result of many years

of developments pushing the needle

forward. The architects of

Flowcasting owe Dr. Orlicky a huge

debt of gratitude when he uttered the

profound truth that “one should

never forecast what one can

calculate.”

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more details?

Flowcastingbook.com

DEMANDCLARITY.COM

Dr. Joe Orlicky invents

Manufacturing Resource

Planning, implements at

Black & Decker. Profoundly

says, “never forecast what

you can calculate!

JOE ORLICKY and MRP

Andre Martin publishes DRP

book and DRP becomes

widely acknowledged as the

standard approach for

planning distribution

operations.

DRP BOOK

Andre Martin invents

Distribution Resource Planning

(DRP). He and Darryl

Landvater implement at Abbott

Labs in Montreal.

ANDRE MARTIN and DRP

Andre Martin helps Sears

USA to become the first

retailer in the world to use

DRP and supplier scheduling

for selected product

categories.

DRP IN RETAIL

Andre Martin publishes

Infopartnering, which

outlines the concepts of an

information supply chain

and connectivity to the end

consumer, or end

consumption.

INFOPARTNERING BOOK

LogicCNet software developed

by Andre Martin and Jim

Andress (of IRI) for store-level

planning. Early pilots with

Giant Foods, Kelloggs and

Price Chopper prove the

concept and set stage for

commercial software.

EARLY PILOTS

FLOWCASTING BOOK

Darryl Landvater and

Andre Martin help Kraft

Foods to use Flowcasting

to drive production and

distribution planning

from a forecast at the

store/shelf for it’s largest

retail customer.

KRAFT PILOTS FLOWCASTING

Andre Marting and Darryl

Landvater help SONY

Canada to implement

Flowcasting to manage

inventories in their SONY

Style stores across

Canada.

SONY CANADA FLOWCASTS

FLOWCASTING IN MEXICO

Mike Doherty, Jeff Harrop

and Darryl Landvater help

implement Flowcasting for

Princess Auto in Winnipeg,

Canada. They are the first

retailer to manage their

entire business using the

process and are managing

to a single set of numbers,

including supplier

scheduling and Retail Sales

& Operations Planning

(S&OP).

A FIRST AT PRINCESS AUTO

1964

1977

1983

1986

1994

1995

A team led by Mike Doherty

and Jeff Harrop design

Flowcasting at Canadian

Tire. Canadian Tire becomes

the first retailer to

implement DC-level DRP and

supplier scheduling for all

products and all suppliers.

DRP IN RETAIL

1999

2006 Andre Martin, Mike

Doherty and Jeff Harrop

publish Flowcasting the

Retail Supply Chain. The

book outlines the

planning process and

documents how

Flowcasting solves

chronic planning

problems like

promotions, seasonal

planning, and slow

sellers.

2008

2009

Mike Doherty and Andre

Martin pilot Flowcasting with

Sigma Alimentos and one of

their major retail customers

in Mexico. The pilot leads to

a company rollout.

2013

2015

Andre Martin and Darryl

Landvater leave consulting to

build software capable of

enabling Flowcasting for any

sized retailer, both small and

very large.

SOFTWARE AVAILABLE

1997