In APO Demand Planning you can now create a forecast based on the characteristics of configurable end products; for example, based on the characteristics " color " , " engine " and " air conditioning " of the end product " car " . Moreover, you can forecast the demand for a combination of several characteristics, thus taking into account the mutual interdependency of the demand for these characteristics.

Characteristics-Based Forecasting allows you to forecast many different variants of the same product and react swiftly to changes in market demand. You can also place orders with your suppliers for assemblies and components in a timely fashion.

1. In R/3, create the characteristics, the class (optional) and a configurable material.
2. In R/3, maintain the classification data of the material in the material master.
3. In APO Customizing, set classical characteristics (IBase and R/3 characteristics) as the class system by choosing Basic Settings → Define Class System (CDP or Classical Characteristics).

It is vital that you make this setting before transferring the characteristics to APO.

4. Transfer the configurable material, the characteristics, the class and the plant from R/3 to APO using APO-CIF.
5. In APO, create a master planning object structure for use in Characteristics-Based Forecasting. Include the characteristic " product " (9AMATNR) in the structure. Select Char.-based forecasting to add the CBF characteristics CBF profile (9AMV_PROF), CBF table (9AMV_TAB) and CBF row (9AMV_ROW). Add any further characteristics you intend to use for Demand Planning. For more information, see IMG.
6. In APO, create a planning area. Set up the key figures so that data is saved to liveCache time series. For more information, see IMG.
7. In APO, create CBF tables to contain the IBase characteristics and/or characteristic combinations of a product that you wish to plan. For each characteristic/characteristic combination, create a table. For characteristics that are not mutually dependent, create separate tables. There are two ways to create a CBF table. Either choose Master Data → Demand Planning Master Data → Configurable Products → Create CBF Table (Structure) from the SAP Easy Access menu (this menu option may read Create Planning Table (Structure) in early Support Packages of Release 3.0A). Alternatively, see Automatic Master Data Generation below.
8. In APO, maintain the contents of the CBF table; that is, you assign values to the characteristics by choosing Master Data → Demand Planning Master Data → Configurable Products → Maintain CBF Table (Content) from the SAP Easy Access menu (this menu option may read Create Planning Table (Content) in early Support Packages of Release 3.0A). For example, you assign the values "3 doors" and "5 doors" to the characteristic "number of doors". Alternatively, see Automatic Master Data Generation below.
9. In APO, create a CBF profile for a product by choosing Master Data → Demand Planning Master Data → Configurable Products → Maintain CBF Profile from the SAP Easy Access menu (this menu option may read Maintain Planning Profile in early Support Packages of Release 3.0A).
1. You enter a short description for the profile.
2. You assign one or more CBF tables, including their contents, to a product; that is, you assign characteristic values to a product.
3. You specify which combinations of characteristic values are relevant for Characteristics-Based Forecasting.
4. You define whether or not the CBF profile is active starting on the date you specified on the initial screen. A default date can be maintained in Customizing. Thus, the characteristic value combinations for Characteristics-Based Forecasting are time-dependent.
5. You assign the CBF profile to a planning area.

Alternatively, see Automatic Master Data Generation below.

For an overview of the valid time windows for one or more CBF profiles of a product, including all its characteristic value combinations, choose Demand Planning → Reporting →Change Overview from the SAP Easy Access menu.

10. In APO, create the DP master data by choosing Maintain characteristic values from the SAP Easy Access menu.
11. Create a demand plan for the characteristics or characteristic combinations. Do this either in interactive demand planning or by running a background job. Use the drill-down functions in the header to see all the characteristic values. The result is a demand plan saved at assembly level.
12. Release the demand plan from Demand Planning to PP/DS.