It is possible to create an unlimited number of sales forecasts. Each forecast has its own name and can contain an unlimited number of products with different requirement dates for various customers. There are two types of sales forecasts: comparative forecasts and tentative orders. Both types are entered in a similar way. Sales forecasts are primarily used to ensure that the correct amount of materials are purchased and for budget planning.
Sales forecasts can be marked as ‘Scheduled’. If a forecast is scheduled, then the materials and other Items needed to provide for the forecast are included in the planning system. If the forecast is not scheduled it does not affect any Item planning and so is recorded for information or archive only. The difference between a comparative forecast and a tentative order is the way in which Item planning system handles the information in the sales forecast. In short, comparative forecasts are used in comparison to real sales orders but tentative orders are in addition to real sales orders.
A comparative forecast is typically used for an annual or quarterly forecast of sales. If the comparative forecast is scheduled then the products, quantities and times specified will be taken into account in the Item planning system in comparison to actual sales orders.
A tentative order is used to specify an expectation of receiving specific sales orders from customers. This is used when a sales order is known with reasonable certainty to be coming to the company but for some reason it is not possible to enter an actual sales order. For instance a customer may have informed that the order is coming but has not been finally approved by management, or it may be known that a product is required in a certain project but it is not yet known which project subcontractor will be ordering it. The Items requirements indicated by tentative orders are added to actual sales orders.
Licensing
The following extensions are related to forecasting:
| Forecasting | Required |
|---|---|
| Sales quotations | Lines from quotations can optionally be included as tentative orders. So this will allow the material requirements of a quote to be included in purchase planning if the automated purchase planner is in use |
| Purchase planner | This is needed if the material requirements of forecasts are to be included in purchase planning. |
Using sales forecasts to manage call-off agreements
Tentative orders are used for rolling forecast in production (sometimes called "blanket orders"). In this model the customer gives, for instance monthly, a forecast schedule of their requirements, perhaps 6 months into the future. It is agreed with the customer that 1 months requirements are to be confirmed. At a monthly meeting the new forecast data is entered to the system and the first month’s forecast is converted to a sales order.
Creating a sales forecast
Sales forecasts can be created either in the Sales section or in the Design section. Click ‘ New Sales Forecasts’ to open the ‘Create Sales Forecast’ page. Name the new forecast, give it a description and define whether the forecast type will be ‘Comparative’ or ‘Tentative order’. Press [Create] to create a new (empty) sales forecast and proceed to the ‘View Sales Forecasts’ page where the forecast has appeared. To edit the forecast, click to select it.
Sales forecast lines
Sale forecast lines are added by filling in the fields below the page header and pressing [Add]. The item id, quantity and date are required. The customer name is optional. Below these fields there are buttons for:
| Calculate forecast | Includes or excludes the forecast in scheduling. |
| Delete forecast | Deletes the forecast together with all of its lines. |
| Get sales order | Retrieve a sales order to where forecast lines can be moved (or create a new sales order). |
| Move to sales order | Move the selected lines to the retrieved sales order. |
| Deleting selected | Delete selected lines from the forecast. |
If the sales forecast is type ‘Comparative’, the buttons for retrieving a sales order and moving lines to a sales order are not available.
Sales forecast in scheduling
Sales forecasts can be included in scheduling. This way it is possible to calculate the manufacturing and purchase requirements created by future sales. The sales forecast will be scheduled when you press [Calculate Forecast]. It will then be shown on the header as being included in scheduling.
To include purchase materials from a sales forecast in purchasing planning, the optional automatic purchase planner system must be in use.
To exclude a sales forecast from scheduling, open the forecast and press [Release Forecast]. This button will replace button [Calculate Forecast] when a forecast is included in scheduling.
Moving sales forecast lines to sales orders
If forecast type is ‘Tentative order’, it is possible to move its lines to an existing "under construction" sales order
First check in the sales order section that a suitable sales order exists. At this stage it does not have to have any lines. Press Get sales order which will open a pop up selector, and as necessary filter by the customer name. Select the correct order.
Preview
The selected order will now be displayed on the forecast screen. Note that lines must be moved to the same named customer as the forecast. Select the lines and optionally edit the quantities that are to be moved and click Move to order. The fully removed lines are removed for the forecast and added to the order. If there are no longer any lines on the forecast, then consider deleting the forecast. Remember to go to the sales order, do the final review of its correctness and activate the order.
Deleting a sales forecast
Go to the sales forecast and press the Delete forecast button.