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Enter New Sales Forecast

Sales Forecasts are a way of planning production for sold items, whether they are bought or built. Particularly where lead times are long or advanced scheduling of purchases or production is key, Sales Forecasts is a useful method for creating demands that can be turned into MRP recommendations to build or buy.

Because forecasts can be configured for a variety of different periods e.g. Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and with specific quantities for each period, it is a more flexible and granular approach than a simple reorder level, which is beneficial where sales are seasonal, or expected to increase or decrease in future.

Sales Forecasts can also be copied from previous forecasts, then sent to and from Excel, to streamline preparation and allow forecast quantities to be quickly and easily manipulated.

 

Before you begin

Ensure you have setup the Planning module as required for Sales Forecasts:

  •  Go to Cim200 Planning > Utilities > System Set Up > Maintain Planning Settings | Sales Forecasts to configure settings for new Sales Forecasts.

To enter manually, amend or view Sales Forecasts

Open: Cim200 Planning > Sales Forecasts > Enter New Sales Forecast
Open: Cim200 Planning > Sales Forecasts > Amend Sales Forecast
Open: Cim200 Planning > Sales Forecasts > View Sales Forecast

Or

Open: Cim200 Planning > Sales Forecast List View

Select New or Amend or View.

Note: The View Sales Forecasts option allows you to view the Forecasts but not amend them.

1. When amending or viewing a Sales Forecast, type or select the forecast reference to amend or view.

  • When entering a new Sales Forecast, if Auto Generate SF Reference is not enabled in Planning Settings, enter the Reference, which must be unique.

 

Start Date : Type or select the item Code to be used.

End Date : Displays the item name once the item code is entered.

Frequency : Set the forecast periods by selecting the appropriate frequency. The frequency chosen will affect the number of forecast columns that will be available, and the date of each one.

Status : The status of the Sales Forecast. New forecasts will default to Entered; leave it at this status if the forecast is not ready to be planned, as the Demand Schedule will ignore records with Entered status. When the status is set to Released, the Demand Schedule will include the forecast in its demands. The status can be changed to Released as the forecast is entered or can be changed later, when ready.

Is Customer Specific : Tick this option if the forecast is for a specific customer. Multiple forecasts can be entered for the same item and date range; setting them as customer specific makes it easier to differentiate them.

Code / Short name / Postcode : If the Forecast is ticked as customer specific, type or select the customer from either the Code, Short Name or Postcode.

 

2. If entering a new forecast, click Confirm to build the forecast grid and allow entry of Forecast lines.

3. Click in the Forecast Lines list to start entering details.

 

Item : Type or select the item Code to be used.

Description : Displays the item name once the item code is entered.

Item Type : Displays the stock item type; whether Component, Built Item or Built/Bought.

Unit : The unit of measure for the quantity to make.

Warehouse : The location to make the item into. If the option for Use Multiple Locations is not enabled in Stock Control, this will default to HOME.

Quantity : The total forecast quantity. A quantity entered here will be divided equally among each of the forecast periods. Alternatively, as quantities are entered into the forecast period columns, the Quantity field will automatically calculate the forecast total.

 

4. Enter the forecasted quantities in each of the forecast period columns, as required.

5. Once the forecast line has been completed, click below it to enter another line to the same forecast.

6. To remove a forecast line, highlight the line and click Delete Item.

7. To view the stock item details for an item, highlight the forecast line, click View Stock Item.

8. Enter any required Notes for the forecast.

9. Click Export to export the forecast to Excel. The forecast quantities can then be edited in Excel and imported back into the forecast in Sage.

10. Click Import to import forecast quantities from Excel. The required format of the Excel file is best achieved by first exporting the forecast to Excel, using the Export button.

11. Click Save to save the Sales Forecast.

 

Copy to a new Forecast

To avoid re-keying a lot of details for similar forecasts, for example, a new year, an existing forecast can be copied to a new forecast.

There is a separate menu option and list view button to Copy Sales Forecast, but whilst entering or amending a forecast, it can also be copied to a new forecast.

Open: Cim200 Planning > Sales Forecasts > Enter New Sales Forecast
Open: Cim200 Planning > Sales Forecasts > Amend Sales Forecast

1. If entering a new Sales Forecast, complete all forecast details including any forecast lines that you want to copy.

2. Click the Copy Forecast… button to open the Copy Sales Forecast screen.

3. In Start Date set the new date, if different.

4. In End Date set the new date, if different.

5. Set the new Status of the new forecast. It will default to Entered.

6. Set a New Reference for the new forecast.

7. Change the setting for Is Customer Specific, if different.

8. Set the new forecast to a different customer account, if required.

9. Click Confirm to confirm header details for the new forecast.

10. Enter or amend forecast line details, as required, or click Export to export the new forecast to Excel.

11. If exported to Excel and updated, click Import to import the updated forecast details from Excel.

12. Click Save to save the new forecast and close the Copy Sales Forecast screen.

13. Click Save on the original forecast screen to save your new forecast or any changes that have been made.

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