Improve the overview of the Demand Forecast in Business Central

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Flexible Forecast is an add-on that gives you a far better overview of your forecast and related data than the standard demand forecast in Business Central. The standard demand forecast only shows you item numbers and forecast quantities, which makes it hard to see the remaining forecast after you run MRP. Flexible Forecast adds two-dimensional views that combine forecast quantities with your actual supplies and demands.

You can view the forecast per period for a single item, per dimension for a single item, or for many items within a single period. Each view shows you start inventory, forecast quantity, order quantities, transfers, production and assembly quantities, historical quantities, and how your end inventory develops over time.

Limitations of the standard demand forecast in Business Central

If you look at the standard demand forecast in Business Central, you have to enter all your specific information every time you go into a given period. In the demand forecast view, you see your item numbers and the forecast, and nothing else. That is the full extent of the overview you get.

This makes it difficult to see the remaining forecast once you have run MRP, because the view does not combine the forecast with the actual supplies and demands that affect it.

Two-dimensional views in Flexible Forecast

Flexible Forecast gives you several views, all of them two-dimensional, which makes them practical to work with.

• Forecast per period for one item: One item across many periods, as many as you have defined.
• Forecast per dimension for one item: The forecast for one item, broken down per dimension.
• Forecast for many items in one period: A single defined period, such as a month or a quarter, showing many items at once.

What you can see in the per-item view

In the forecast per period for one item, you get a detailed picture across all your defined periods. You can see the start inventory before the date, the forecast quantity, and all the supplies and demands.

The view includes columns for transfer quantities, production quantity, assembly quantity, and historical quantities. You can also see how your end inventory develops over time. This gives you a much better overview of the mixture of forecast quantity and your actual documents, including order quantities, supplies, and demands.

What you can see in the per-period view

When you choose to view many items in one period, you define the period you want to look at, for instance one month or a quarter. You then see the start inventory and quantities for many items at once. There is a lot of information available in this view as well.

The result is a more agile way of working with your forecast. You can switch between viewing a single item across many periods or many items within a single period, depending on what you need to plan.

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