Shining Bright: How Alliance Consumer Group Strengthened Forecasting, Availability, and Inventory Performance with ketteQ

Alliance Consumer Group (ACG) is a leading consumer products company based in Fort Worth, Texas, that designs and distributes well-known brands, including NEBO flashlights, TRUE pocket tools, Skeeter Hawk pest defense, and iPROTEC firearm accessories. ACG sells through a complex mix of big-box retailers, independent accounts, Amazon, and direct-to-consumer channels, reaching more than 50,000 retail locations worldwide.

ACG operates in a highly seasonal, promotion-driven environment. Each year, the company introduces 50–100 new products while simultaneously rationalizing SKUs. With expanding operations in Canada and plans to extend its supply chain model into the UK and EMEA, ACG required a more adaptable approach to forecasting, inventory planning, and customer commitments, one that could scale decision-making without introducing operational friction.

As ACG’s business grew more complex, spreadsheets and disconnected planning tools became a constraint rather than an enabler. The supply chain organization faced several challenges:

• Volatile demand driven by seasonality, promotions, and frequent new product introductions
• Limited real-time visibility into inventory and availability across channels
• Inconsistent allocation decisions during constrained supply situations
• The need for fast, reliable promise dates to support sales and customer commitments
• Heavy reliance on spreadsheets slowed planning and increased operational risk

ACG’s planning team needed a single, trusted view of supply and demand—one that could continuously reflect reality and support confident decisions across the business.

“We were spending too much time reconciling spreadsheets and answering one-off questions,” said Larson. “What we needed was real-time visibility that everyone could trust and act on.”  -- Stephanie Larson, Director of Supply Chain at ACG