Inventory Planning > Inventory Forecasting > Processing > Approve Draft Forecasts

Approve Draft Forecasts

You use this program to approve draft forecasts.

This enables you to implement a forecast approval process whereby draft forecasts are generated, compared to current forecasts, and checked for reasonableness before they are approved.

IO Approve Draft Forecasts

When you load the Approve Draft Forecasts program, the IO Selections program is displayed, enabling you to indicate the stock items for which you want to approve the draft forecasts.

When you select the Start Processing option from the IO Selections program, the selected items are processed as described in the Processing Sequence section.

Processing Sequence

The following process is performed (according to your selections), when you select the Start Processing function in the IO Selections program:

  • The forecasting periods' start/end dates according to the calendar associated with the item are calculated.

  • If you selected the option Freeze within lead time (IO Selection Sets) then the system calculates a period within which the live forecasts are frozen and are these therefore not changed by this program.

    The program calculates the frozen period as follows:

    1. Calculate a freeze date by adding the item's lead time to the company date (taken from the Inventory Master table).

    2. Calculate which period this ‘freeze date’ falls into by comparing start end dates for each period. The periods are calculated using the calendar applicable to the SKU.

    3. Once the period is established then the program works out whether it is closer to the start or end date of the period.

      If it is closer to the start date then it freezes all forecasts between the company date and the start of that period.

      If it is closer to the end date for the period, then it freezes all forecasts between the company date and the end of that period.

      [Note]

      The frozen forecasts are added to the snapshot as they are valid forecasts as of the current date.
  • The draft forecasts are read into the forecasting periods.

  • The current forecasts are updated as follows:

    • All existing current forecast records/rows for the item that fall between the start date of the first forecast period and the end date of the last forecast period and that have not had any sales recorded against them (forecast depletion) are deleted.
    • If the option: Inactivate current forecasts where no draft is selected, then all existing current forecast records/rows for an item that fall between the start date of the first forecast period and the end date of the last forecast period and that have had sales recorded against them (forecast depletion) are set to 'inactive'.
    • For each forecast period out to the forecast horizon, the forecast quantity is output according to the forecast option selected.
    • If forecast amendment journals are required (Inventory Optimization - General Setup) then any additions, changes or deletions are output to the appropriate journal.

  • The draft forecasts are deleted if you selected the Delete draft option against the selection set (IO Selection Sets) or in the IO Selections program.

  • Snapshots of forecasts created for stock code/warehouse combinations are stored and used in the Forecast Accuracy Review program.

Inserting Application Help

You would typically follow this procedure to display help for the current program in a customized pane that can be pinned to the program window.

Information includes step-by-step instructions for the various functions available within the program, including a brief overview of what the program does, what setup options are required and how to personalize the program.

  1. Open the program for which you want to insert application help into a customized pane.

    This functionality is only available for a program that has panes.

  2. Right-click any form field.

    You can also click the triangle menu icon that appears in the title area of a pane.

  3. Select Insert Application Help from the context-sensitive menu.

    The application help appears in a pane within your program. You can reposition the pane using the docking stickers or pin it to the program window.

Removing the Application Help pane

If you no longer want to display application help in a pane for your current program, you can simply remove it.

  1. Select the Close icon in the right-hand corner of the application help pane.

  2. Confirm that you want to delete the pane.