Machine learning software for direct material procurement

If you are buying spot, when and how much should you buy? What is the optimal mix between spot and term-based contracts? How should you structure the price adjustment mechanism of your term-based contracts?

Reliable price predictions are a key part of the answer to these questions, and Datapred benefits from the unique predictive capabilities of its modeling engine for streaming data.

Whatever the direct material price you are targeting (market, public or private), Datapred will leverage the relevant interval and external data to provide short- and long-term point and trend predictions, with the corresponding confidence intervals.

Managing risk is a major issue for Chief Procurement Officers - compounded for direct costs by increased volatility on commodity, energy and raw material markets.

Datapred uses machine learning to deliver a potent portfolio of risk management tools:

• Confidence intervals for direct material price predictions.
• Estimation of future price volatility.
• Identification of the risk factors affecting current and future price movements, and quantification of their impact on your optimal procurement program.
• Impact of prediction horizons on Datapred's buy/hold recommendations.

Price predictions are only half of Datapred's direct material procurement optimization software. Equally important is the combination (also using machine learning) of these predictions with the optimization of the operational constraints that affect your purchasing activity:

• Inventory capacity.
• Production requirements.
• Supply chain management.
• Compliance...
• etc.

It is this combination that transforms an abstract prediction accuracy into an actionable procurement program, telling you when and how much to buy.

This combination of price predictions and constraint optimization ensures that your Datapred suggestions are unique, and enables the direct measurement of Datapred's ROI.

Our clients have used Datapred successfully on metals, food stuff, resins, electricity, natural gas...

Contact us for a discussion of these use cases and of how Datapred would apply to the category that is nagging you.