Gestão da demanda: avaliação do processo em uma empresa de bens de consumo

Este artigo objetiva descrever o processo de gestão da demanda adotado por uma empresa multinacional de bens de consumo, com atuação no Brasil. A partir disto, desenvolver proposta de melhoria com base na realidade da empresa e nas diferenças entre os resultados encontrados e as indicações teóricas sobre o tema. Para tanto, utilizou-se o método de estudo de caso em um dos subsetores da referida empresa. Os resultados apontaram que o processo de gestão da demanda utilizado pela empresa é, de modo geral, um processo bem desenvolvido. No entanto, contatou-se a inexistência de um plano formal e sistematizado de contingências.Palavras-chave: Gestão da demanda, Gestão da cadeia de suprimentos, Modelo de gestão da demanda, Empresa de bens de consumo, Mercado brasileiro.Demand management: evaluation of the process in a consumer goods companyAbstract: Due to new pattern of consumption arising by the change in the life style and the customer preferences, the companies need to be capable of offer a variety of products, customization and better services levels. However the market dynamic, effective for most business segments, is defined by the unpredictability and makes the effort of preview very critic. Among the strategies that are possible, the demand management has became as fundamental to the competitively. The purpose of this article is to describe the process of management demand that is adopted by a multinational consumer goods. This company also acts in Brazil. Due to this, the paper proposes suggestions for improvement that are based in the company reality and in the differences between the results which were founded and the theoretical indications about the topic. Therefore, it was used the case study method applied in a subsector of the company. The instruments of the research were interviews, documental analyses and direct observation. The results indicate that the process of management demand, which was used by the company is substantial and well-develop because helps in the achievement of objectives plotted as for the demand forecast and monitoring customer needs and desires. So there is a consistence between literature and practice about demand management that is adopted by the company. The dissonance point which was realized is the absence of a formal and systematized plan of contingency, then dissonance point is a step inside the management model of demand. It is concluded that the company understand the demand management as one of the process that compounds supply chain management. Though the stage “development of systems to contingency management” needs to be improved. The description of this successful process, performed by a large company, can serve as a reference guide for managers of companies that do not adopt the demand management or need to improve the existing.Keywords: Demand management, Supply chain management, Demand management framework, Consumer goods company, Brazilian market.