What role does the Demand Forecasting functionality play?

The Demand Forecasting functionality is crucial in supply chain management as it specifically focuses on predicting future customer demand. By analyzing various factors such as historical sales data, market trends, and seasonality, this functionality enables businesses to anticipate the quantity of products that will be needed over a certain period. This predictive capability allows companies to optimize inventory levels, ensuring that they have the right amount of stock on hand to meet customer needs without overstocking, which can lead to increased carrying costs and decreased cash flow.

Whereas tracking historical sales data is a component of the forecasting process, it doesn't encompass the full function of predicting demand. Managing production scheduling and controlling supplier allocations are also important aspects of supply chain operations, but they are not the primary focus of the Demand Forecasting functionality. Thus, option B accurately captures the core function of demand forecasting in the context of inventory optimization.