Case Study: Idaho Forest Group achieves faster, data-driven forecasting with IBM Planning Analytics

Idaho Forest Group revolutionizes its forecasting efforts, empowering leaders to make clear, data-driven decisions

Idaho Forest Group, a major U.S. lumber producer, struggled with forecasting, planning, and reporting that relied on spreadsheets, gut instinct, and inconsistent data across multiple mills and sites. This made cash-flow visibility poor, slowed operations, and created risk of shortages and delays. To modernize FP&A, the company turned to IBM-powered Planning Analytics through IBM Business Partner ActionKPI and its Integrated Profitability Solution.

IBM and ActionKPI centralized Idaho Forest Group’s financial and operational data into a single planning platform, enabling rolling 24-month forecasts, daily mill-level production planning, and drill-down reporting across sales, inventory, pricing, and costs. The results included a 25% time savings in finance, forecasting work cut from about 80 hours a month to 10–15 hours, and a budget cycle reduced from roughly three months to a couple of weeks.

Idaho Forest Group

Dan Redmond

Director of Financial Planning and Analysis