Managing Forecasts

In many cases, production companies receive sales orders on short notice. However, the production process might take a great deal of time. As a result, it is common for these companies to plan their purchasing and production in advance, even before they receive actual sales orders. This is the goal of a forecast, which is designed to serve as an additional requirement. Therefore, the goods are produced based on the forecast, and when the actual sales orders are received, the company is able to supply the order quickly.

SAP Business One lets you generate forecasts based on historical sales records or manually entered forecast quantities. You can then use the forecasts as an additional data source for the MRP calculation.

Note Note

Although there is no restriction on the number of forecasts you can define, you can select only one forecast for a single MRP scenario. For more information, see Running MRP - General Process, Prerequisites, and Procedure.

End of the note.

To add, duplicate, update, or delete an MRP forecast, from the SAP Business One Main Menu, choose Start of the navigation path MRP Next navigation step Forecasts End of the navigation path and follow the appropriate procedure listed below.

Note Note

Once you have saved a forecast, you cannot change its view.
You can select multiple lines in the forecast to perform the following actions:
- adjust the quantities for the lines by choosing the (Scale Forecast Quantity Up) button or the (Scale Forecast Quantity Up) button
- delete the lines by choosing the Delete Row option from the context menu

End of the note.

In MRP calculations, you can consume a forecast using sales orders and blanket agreements. To do so, proceed as follows:

Note Note

To enable the consume forecast function, make sure you have selected the Consume Forecast checkbox on the General Settings: Inventory Tab.

End of the note.

To consume a forecast using sales orders, on the Contents tab of the Sales Order window, select Yes for the Consume Forecast column.
For more information, see Sales Document: Contents Tab.
To consume a forecast using blanket agreements, in the Blanket Agreement Details window, select the Consume Forecast checkbox. For more information, see Blanket Agreement Details.

Note
Only blanket agreements of type Specific can be set to consume a forecast.

End of the note.

Procedure

Creating Forecasts

Switch to Add mode. For more information, see Working in Add Mode.
Enter the forecast code and name.
Enter the start and end dates for the forecast horizon.
The date you specify may change in accordance with the value selected in the View field. For examples, see Start Date, End Date in the Forecasts Window.
In the View dropdown list, select a time period to manage the forecast.

Note
You cannot update the view after adding the forecast.

End of the note.

For more information about view options, see View in the Forecasts Window.
Specify one or more items to include in the forecast.
To specify forecast items and quantities, do one of the following:
- Manually Define a Forecast
  1. Specify one or more items to include in the forecast.
  2. Enter forecast quantities for each period in the items’ sales units. You can define Sales UoM for items under Inventory Item Master Data Sales Data Sales UoM .
    
    Note
    
    You are not required to enter a value for every period. For example, if you create a weekly forecast for six months, you are not required to enter a quantity for every week.
    
    End of the note.
- Automatically Generate a Forecast
  Note
  If you are using SAP Business One, version for SAP HANA, there are two types of forecasts:
  Basic forecast: you can find the description below.
  Intelligent forecast: for more information, see Generating an Intelligent Forecast.
  End of the note.
  1. In the Forecast window, choose the Generate Forecast button.
    
    Note
    If you are using SAP Business One, version for SAP HANA, to view the Generate Forecasts - Set Up window, in the Forecast window, choose the Generate Forecast button, and choose Basic Forecast.
    
    End of the note.
    
    The Generate Forecasts - Set Up window appears.
    
    Use the selection criteria to filter items to be included in the forecast. You may filter items by Item, Preferred Vendor, or Default Warehouse.
  2. Click to expand Advanced Settings.
  3. Under Advanced Settings, define the sales records of a period as the calculation basis for the forecast quantity.
    To do so, select the Base on Sales History checkbox and specify the calculation method. Available calculation methods vary in accordance with the definition of the View field. For more information about the calculation algorithm for each option, see Base on Sales History in Generate Forecasts — Set Up Window.
  4. Specify the sales documents to include in the calculation. You may select Sales Orders and Deliveries and A/R Invoice.
    
    Note
    A/R invoices based on a delivery and A/R reserve invoices are not considered.
    Canceled documents and reserved invoices are not considered.
    Only sales documents with posting dates within the range of history start and end dates are considered.
    
    End of the note.
  5. Specify the History Start Date field and the application automatically calculates the history end date.
    
    Note
    Make sure you specify a date no later than the forecast Start Date.
    SAP Business One may adjust your History Start Date entry according to your definition for the forecast View.
    
    End of the note.
  6. To save data and return to the Forecasts window, choose OK.
    SAP Business One populates this window with items you select and displays the automatically generated forecast quantities for each item in each period.
In some cases, you may want to adjust the forecast quantities by a certain percentage. For example, you generate a forecast based on the sales history of the last three months. But you realize that the forecast period would be the peak period of the year, so you decide to multiply the forecast quantities by 200%. To do so, in the top right corner of the Forecasts window, use (Scale Forecast Quantity Up) and (Scale Forecast Quantity Down) to adjust forecast quantities.
For more information, see Forecast Quantity Adjustment in the Forecasts Window.
To save the forecast changes, choose the Add button.

Duplicating Forecasts

Switch to Find mode. For more information, see Working with Find Mode.
Enter an asterisk (*) and from the list, select the forecast to duplicate.
From the Data menu, choose the Duplicate button.

Updating Forecasts

Switch to Find mode. For more information, see Working with Find Mode.
Enter an asterisk (*) and from the list, select the forecast to update.
The details of the forecast are displayed.
Do one or more of the following, as required:
- Change the forecast description.
- Overwrite the dates to change the forecast horizon.
  The period values are deleted and replaced by the new ones.
  
  Caution
  
  If you change the range of dates in the Start and End Date fields, the data that does not fall within the range of dates is deleted.
  
  End of the caution.
- Update the item record.
  - To display the item master data for the item, in the Item No. field, click (Link Arrow).
  - To overwrite the value in the Item No. field, enter a new item number, or remove the existing value, press TAB, and select a value from the list.
- Update quantities for each item in each period.
To save the changes, choose the Update button.
To close the window, choose the OK button.

Deleting Forecasts

Switch to Find mode. For more information, see Working with Find Mode.
Enter an asterisk (*) and from the list, select the forecast to delete.
From the Data menu, choose the Remove button.

Caution

You cannot remove a forecast that has been used in an MRP run.

End of the caution.

More Information

Forecasts Window

Generating an Intelligent Forecast

Intelligent Forecast Window