Generic

The Unified Demand Forecast (UDF) module in SAP Customer Activity Repository allows you to model and forecast consumer demand. For input, you need to provide historical demand data. You can use the generic time series (table /DMF/TS_UN, time series source CONS_TS) to provide this input.

Structure

The generic time series contains historical consumption data indicating the unit volume of a specific product sold in a specific location for a specific time period. For a complete overview, see the /DMF/TS_UN table in your system (transaction SE16 or SE80).

Consumption data is the most generic type of demand data that is supported.

The generic times series is persisted in the Demand Data Foundation (DDF) module in SAP Customer Activity Repository..

Integration

DDF can receive the generic time series from an SAP ERP application or a non-SAP application. For more information, see the Integration Information section in this Help and the Introduction to SAP Customer Activity Repository section of the Common Master Guide under Start of the navigation path http://help.sap.com/car Next navigation step <your release> Installation and Upgrade Information Master Guide End of the navigation path .

DDF uses an inbound interface (function module /DMF/TS_GENERIC_INBOUND) to receive the generic time series through a Remote Function Call (RFC). For more information, see the function module documentation (transaction SE37).

Prerequisites

You have ensured that the prerequisites under Inbound Interfaces For Remote Function Call (RFC) Communication have been fulfilled.
You have ensured that the master data (such as the product location master data) associated to the consumption data exists and is available in DDF. For more information about the inbound interface for the product location, see Product Location Master Data.

Customizing

The following Customizing activities are relevant for this time series:

You set the time series granularity under Cross-Application Components Demand Data Foundation Imported Data Time Series Define Time Series for Key Figure Configuration .

Note
Your historical data must be at daily granularity. Weekly data is currently not supported.

End of the note.
You define the number range for the time series under Cross-Application Components Demand Data Foundation Imported Data Time Series Maintain Number Range for Time Series .
You select the time series under Cross-Application Components Demand Data Foundation Data Maintenance Define Time Series Source .

For more information, see the documentation of each activity (transaction SPRO).

Features

Receives the time series with the defined type of granularity.
Receives the Create and Update actions for the consumption data.
Performs various validation checks on the received data. For example, the system checks whether the product location combination exists and is available in DDF.

More Information

Importing data: Inbound Processing
Features of modeling and forecasting: Unified Demand Forecast
Running modeling and forecasting: Schedule Model and Forecast