Case study
Leitax

Introduction
We are in 2005. Leitax is a company that manufactures digital cameras for the entertainment and professional markets. Leitax was created in 1997 from a department of Newplex that manufactures print and imaging technologies since the late 1970’s. The target market is quite global but most of the sales are made in the USA and in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Leitax has a poor market share and needs sustaining all the improvements in order to survive in a highly competitive market. Brian J. McMillan, head of the Demand Management Services (DMS) and Kevin C. Fowler, senior director of Planning and Fulfilment, are discussing about possible changes to the forecasting process in the company after several missteps of production of recent products.
In this case, some readings are useful to understand the relevant theory underlying the main issues to overcome. It is clear that this case deals with the ability to manage a good forecasting tool in order to meet the demand in an uncertain world and with the key elements of the forecasting process that lead to improving forecast accuracy and operational performance. Besides, the theory about the different forecasting techniques will also have a central role in this analysis. I used 3 articles to support what I will say. The references are indicated in the footnote of this page.
Who is responsible in the failures of forecast in 2002 and 2004?
In 2002, the sales forecasting process was ill-designed. At Leitax, each functional group made its own forecast using its own assumptions of the future trend of the market. Each forecast was made for a single purpose: * Each director of sales made a forecast for its own scope of sales. This forecast was used as a guide for controlling operations within the supply chain and was used by the finance department in order to build a financial