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 Forecast Approval

Purpose

This process carries out the forecast approval and in doing so provides the results of the forecast calculation to further planning services. The system firstly creates the final forecast and then compares it to the previous final forecast. If this comparison does not exceed a certain threshold value, the system automatically approves the forecast. If the comparison exceeds this threshold value, the system forwards the results of the final forecast to the forecast planner to be approved manually. The forecast planner can then either approve the results, or modify the forecast settings and then restart the forecast run.

The forecast release process begins after the system has calculated the forecast values. Depending on your settings, these forecast results can be available in the following forms:

  • As statistical forecast values

    (Key figures: Demand : Forecast, Item: Forecast, Demand/Item: Forecast)

  • As disaggregated forecast values

    (Key figures: Demand: Disaggregated Forecast, Item: Disaggregated Forecast, Demand/Item: Disaggregated Forecast)

  • As manually entered forecast values

    (Key figures: Demand: Manual Forecast, Item: Manual Forecast, Demand/Item: Manual Forecast)

  • As manually entered, disaggregated forecast values

    (Key figures: Demand: Manual Disag. Forecast, Item: Manual Disag. Forecast, Demand/Item: Manual Disag. Forecast)

  • As statistical forecast values of the forecast by leading indicator

    (Key figure: Demand: Leading-Indicator-Based Forecast )

  • As disaggregated forecast values of the forecast by leading indicator

    (Key figure: Demand: LI-Based Disaggregated Forecast )

Prerequisites

  • In Customizing, you have defined a profile for determining the final forecast.

    For more information, see the Implementation Guide (IMG) for Advanced Planning and Optimization under Start of the navigation path Supply Chain Planning Next navigation step Service Parts Planning (SPP) Next navigation step Forecasting Next navigation step Define Final Forecast Determination Profile End of the navigation path .

  • In the forecast profile, on the General tab page, in the Final Forecast Determination Profile field, you have specified one of the profiles for determining the final forecast, which you have defined in Customizing.

    You get to the forecast profile from the SAP Easy Access screen via Start of the navigation path Service Parts Planning (SPP) Next navigation step Planning Next navigation step Forecasting. End of the navigation path

Process

  1. Which of the above forecast values is used as the final forecast by the system depends on the profile for determining the final forecast that you have selected in the forecast profile (see Prerequisites).

    If you want to use your own logic for forecast release, you can implement the BAdI: Define Forecast Approval Logic (/SAPAPO/FCST_APPR_CUST_DEF) business add-in (BAdI). In this case, you choose the BAdI entry in the Final Forecast Determination Profile field in the forecast profile. Start of the navigation path For more information about the BAdI, see the Implementation Guide (IMG) forAdvanced Planning and OptimizationunderSupply Chain Planning Next navigation step Service Parts Planning (SPP) Next navigation step Business Add-Ins (BAdIs) for Service Parts Planning (SPP) Next navigation step BAdIs for Forecasting Next navigation step BAdI: Define Forecast Approval Logic. End of the navigation path

  2. The system compares the current final forecast with the previous final forecast and calculates the deviation. If the deviation is smaller than a certain limit value, the system saves the new final forecast values automatically and approves them in doing so. If the deviation is greater than this limit value, the system forwards the forecast results for manual approval.

    You can define the limit value for the deviation between the old and the new final forecast in the forecast profile on the tab page General in the parameter Approval: Maximum Deviation

    If you want to work with another value for the maximum standard deviation, you can implement the BAdI: Define Parameters for Forecast Approval (/SAPAPO/SPP_FCST_REL) BAdI. Start of the navigation path For more information about the BAdI, see the Implementation Guide (IMG) forAdvanced Planning and OptimizationunderSupply Chain Planning Next navigation step Service Parts Planning (SPP) Next navigation step Business Add-Ins (BAdIs) for Service Parts Planning (SPP) Next navigation step BAdIs for Forecasting Next navigation step BAdI: Define Parameters for Forecast Approval. End of the navigation path

  3. The forecast planner can now view the table with the forecast values that are greater than the limit value; that is, the values that the system does not approve automatically. The table can be viewed from the SAP Easy Access menu under Start of the navigation path Advanced Planning and Optimization Next navigation step Service Parts Planning (SPP) Next navigation step Planning Next navigation step Forecast Next navigation step Approve Forecast End of the navigation path .

  4. On the Forecast Approval screen the forecast planner can choose the product or location for which the deviations should be shown. Forecast results for several products or locations can also be displayed. It is also possible to display all products of all locations that exceed the deviation by a certain value.

    The forecast planner can now do the following:

    • Manually approve the forecast results

      If the forecast planner approves the results, the system deletes the values from the table and saves them as new final forecast values in the transaction data layer (TDL) and in the liveCache.

    • The planner can reset the parameters or choose another forecast model, and then restart the forecast run with the new settings.

Result

Other planning processes in Service Parts Planning (SPP) , such as Inventory Planning or Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP), can access the forecast values saved in liveCache and can base their planning on these values.