In my last post, I explained how when it comes to forecasting, Dow Chemical Company has recently embraced the notion that understanding the timing behind economic upswings is as important as forecasting accuracy.

So what did Dow do next? To start building a framework that would connect recessionary cycles to business cycles, Dow looked to tap sources of existing economic data.

“We first thought, Well, who is doing this type of work? And how do we use it to a different advantage?” said Tim Rey, the manager of Dow’s advanced analytics group, situated in Dow’s Six Sigma Expertise Center. According to Rey, Dow first turned to the Chicago Fed National Activity Index. more

It’s probably no surprise that the very area where the downturn arguably exposed glaring deficiencies in finance capabilities is the spot where innovation is now taking root.

And so it is at Dow Chemical Company, where the chemical giant’s forecasting experts are authoring a new chapter — one that embraces the notion that the future is best revealed by understanding business turns and economic cycles.

“Lots of money can be made by understanding turns better, and an event like what happened in fourth quarter 2008 and first quarter 2009 makes large companies like ours take notice,” says Tim Rey, the manager of Dow’s advanced analytics group, situated in Dow’s Six Sigma Expertise Center. more

While finance executives continue to turn a wary eye toward the economic uncertainty clouding the upturn, there’s little doubt that staffing services companies are already savoring the fruits of the seemingly contradictory environment known as a jobless recovery.

In short, the failure of corporations to turn on the hiring spigot – despite an uptick in sales – has been good news for staffing companies, which tend to prosper when employers are reluctant to make permanent hires.

“The ideal situation for us is when the purchasing index – both in the U.S. and globally – is strong; however, economic uncertainty keeps companies cautious when it comes to hiring, and that’s what we’ve been experiencing,” says Michael Van Handel, CFO of Manpower, the $16 billion staffing company that operates with 28,000 employees globally. more

One of the more interesting and thoughtful presentations on the first day of the SASF2010 Business Forecasting Conference was given by a senior manager from MillerCoors by the name of Kevin Nitz. According to his bio, Nitz is currently leading a team of five forecasting and demand planning professionals who have been tasked with implementing a “transformational forecasting and demand planning solution” (hence Nitz’s participation at SASF2010). more