Warner-Lambert and Wal-Mart planned Listerine together and lifted in-stock from 87% to 98%

In the mid-1990s, consumer-goods forecasting was a duel: the manufacturer forecast demand to plan production, the retailer forecast demand to place orders, and neither saw the other's numbers. Wal-Mart and Warner-Lambert (maker of Listerine) tried the opposite in a pilot that became known as Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR).

Retailer and supplier shared strategic plans, sales data and market insight over private networks and jointly built forecasts on 'workbenches' where each side could comment. The pilot focused on Listerine: in-stock averages rose from 87% to 98%, lead times dropped from 21 to 11 days, and sales increased about $8.5 million — the Wiley case study calls it 'the equivalent of a new product launch, but for a much lower investment'.

The idea spread: VICS formalized CPFR into a nine-step process in the late 1990s, and retailers and manufacturers across the consumer-goods industry adopted variants. The core change was informational — replacing two guesses with one agreed plan and exception-based reviews.