Forecast Details

The Procurement -> Forecasts -> Forecast details page shows the detailed information of a calculated forecast.

Jump to:

1. What is a procurement forecast?
2. Create a new forecast.
3. Create manufacturing and purchase orders.
4. Consider or ignore available materials.
5. Multi-site forecasting.
6. Tips for using the forecast.

Creating a procurement forecast

For creating a procurement forecast:

1. Go to Procurement -> Forecasts and click Create.
2. Enter the forecast title to identify it (for example, "3rd quarter").
3. Select, whether:
   • a) Available parts will be considered in the calculation (i.e. available items already in stock, plus available items still waiting to be received).
   • b) Available parts will be ignored in the calculation.
4. Enter products and quantities that are planned to be produced in the future.
5. Enter the Due date when the products should be available in stock.
   • Available only together with the Backward Production Scheduling functionality.
6. Click Calculate materials and timing button. As a result:
   • For every product, the software shows when a manufacturing order should be started.
   • A list of required raw materials is displayed (part, quantity, cost, vendor, last order date). 

Create MOs and POs

Manufacturing orders can be scheduled to the production plan by checking the products MO column and clicking Create manufacturing orders button. 

Purchase orders can be created by selecting the materials PO column and clicking the Create purchase orders button.

Consider or ignore available materials.

When calculating the materials, it's possible to choose whether the current inventory levels should be considered, or not.

As output, the forecast provides the following information

• Total materials requirements, if available stock is ignored. 
  Or, net materials requirements, if available stock is considered.
• The date, when manufacturing orders for products can start the earliest if forward planning is used (available in all editions).
  Or, the date when manufacturing orders for products can start the latest to be completed by the Due date (available only in Enterprise edition.)
• The vendor, the cost, the required delivery date, and the latest order date for each part or material, based on Purchase Terms.
• Options to create Manufacturing Orders and Purchase Orders.

Multi-site forecasting

If there are multiple production sites, there are two options to choose from when creating a forecast:

1. Select one site for the forecast.
2. Select option All sites for considering all sites in the forecast.

If a site is selected:

1. The software calculates required manufacturing and purchase orders.
2. The manufacturing orders can be added to the production schedule at the selected site.

If All sites option is selected:

1. The software calculates the total quantity of materials that are required to produce all the desired products.
2. It is not possible to create manufacturing and purchase orders, because these must be placed at particular sites.