Forecasted report
The Inventory forecasted report provides a real-time view of projected stock levels, helping businesses manage their inventory efficiently. This report is beneficial for planning and decision making, ensuring stock availability for upcoming sales, manufacturing, and replenishment activities.
Important
The forecast report is only available on products where inventory is being tracked, commonly referred to as a storable product.
Multi-step reservation
Reserved quantities for multi-step incoming and outgoing shipments are indicated on in the Replenishment column on the table of the report.
Stock in Transit refers to products that have been received, but are in transit to their input or quality control locations. Free Stock in Transit refers to available products received in the input location, but not yet placed in stock.
Operations affecting the forecast report
The forecast report is influenced by various operations, each impacting stock levels differently. Scheduled delivery dates, planned manufacturing dates, and expected arrival dates all affect the forecast of inventory.
Requests for Quotation (RFQs) do not immediately impact the forecast report, as the products are not confirmed for replenishment. POs, however, do affect the report as the products are expected to arrive after the PO has been confirmed.
Confirmed SOs decrease the forecasted stock, adjusting the report based on the scheduled delivery date. Confirmed manufacturing orders (MOs) affect the forecasted stock for both raw materials and finished goods.
Use cases
Negative quantity
A negative forecasted quantity indicates that the projected demand exceeds the available and incoming stock at a given point in time. This could occur because the SOs or MOs require more stock than is currently available or expected, or because of delays in the shipping or manufacturing process.
Whatever the cause, when negative numbers are displayed on the forecast report, it serves as an early warning, allowing business to take preventative action. This can include:
Prioritizing specific sales or production orders.
Adjusting procurement strategies to expedite purchase orders.
Manage customer expectations by proactively communicating the possibility for delays.
Split orders
In the example below, there is not currently enough stock of a product, Cabinet with Doors to fulfill the multiple sales orders. The current stock has been reserved for a shipment, WH/OUT/00011, and the remainder has been split between the two orders. The remaining stock is expected with WH/IN/00004. Once received, they are the separated out to cover the remaining orders.
Late receipt
The replenishment table can be used to determine whether an incoming shipment arrives in time to fulfill an order. For example, a SO is displayed with a Delivery Date for today for five Cable Management Boxes. The current on hand quantity is zero. A PO has been confirmed, with the expected arrival three days from today.
The forecasted quantity for today shows -5, because the confirmed demand is five, but the current stock on hand is zero. Since the Receipt date is after the Delivery Date, the shipment is late.
This can be an indication to either expedite the current shipment, if possible, or reschedule the delivery date for the SO.