CASE STUDY Leitax $($A$)$

Brian J$.$ McMillan apologized to Kevin C$.$ Fowler, senior director of planning and fulfillment, as he reclined in his chair at the conference table. It was mid$-$January $2005$ and McMillan, who had opted for back surgery during the holiday break, was frustrated that his recuperation was not proceeding as quickly as his surgeon had promised. McMillan, head of the Demand Management Services $($DMS$)$ group, and Fowler were discussing possible changes to Leitax's consensus forecasting process, a system at the heart of the company's $18-$month$-$old revamp of its supply and demand planning processes. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, Leitax was the seventh$-$largest player in the digital camera business.

The consensus forecasting$$process$,$