1. In the Search box, enter production forecast, and then choose Production Forecasts.

2. In the Home tab, choose New. The Production Forecast Names window opens.

3. Enter the name and description of the production forecast.

4. On the Home tab, choose Edit Production Forecast. The Production Forecast window opens.

5. Populate the General FastTab.

   1. In the Location Filter field, select the location to which this forecast will apply. This field must be entered.

   2. (Optional) In the Customer Filter field, select the customer to which this forecast will apply.

   3. In the View by field, select the time interval that will be displayed in each column. You can select from the following intervals: Day, Week, Month, Quarter, Year, or the Accounting Period, as set up in Financial Management.

      You should consider which time interval that you want to use for future forecasts so that the time interval is consistent throughout. When you enter a forecast quantity, it is valid on the first day of the time interval that you select. For example, if you select a month, then the forecast quantity is for the first day of the month. If you select a quarter, then the forecast quantity is for the first day of the first month in the quarter.

   4. In the View as field, select how the forecast quantities are shown for the time interval. If you select Net Change, then the net change in balance is displayed for the time interval. If you select Balance at Date, then the window displays the balance as of the last day in the time interval.

   5. In the Forecast Type field, select Component.

   6. Specify a Date Filter if you want to limit the amount of data displayed.

   7. In the Entry Type Filter, select Component History if you only want to see entries based on the calculated component history. Otherwise, leave the value as All.

6. On the Actions tab, choose Import History. The Create Production Forecast window opens.

7. Populate the Create Production Forecast window.

   1. In the Item Analysis Date Filter field, enter the date range of the records you want JustFoodERP to look at. For example, 01/01/16..12/31/16.

   2. In the Item Analysis Period Type field, enter the time interval that will be analyzed. The value defaults in from the View by field. The number of periods is used when calculating an Average forecast.

      If the date filter is 01/01/16..01/31/16 and the Item Analysis Period Type is Day, then there would be 31 periods.
      If the date filter is 01/01/16..01/31/16 and the Item Analysis Period Type is Week, then there would be 5 periods (since the weeks in January cover 5 weeks).
      If the date filter is 01/01/16..01/31/16 and the Item Analysis Period Type is Month, then there would be 1 period for the month of January.
      If the date filter is 01/01/16..01/31/16 and the Item Analysis Period Type is Year, then there would be 1 period for 2016.

   3. In the Item UOM to Use field, select the item unit of measure to use, either the base UOM or the sales UOM.

   4. Ensure the value in the Forecast Type field is Component. The value defaults in from the Production Forecast window.

   5. Select Include Adjustments if you want JustFoodERP to include Positive Adjmt. entries when the forecast is based on Receipts Only, or Negative Adjmt. entries when the forecast is based on Usage Only.

   6. Select Include Production if you want JustFoodERP to include Output entries when the forecast is based on Receipts Only, or Consumption entries when the forecast is based on Usage Only.

   7. In the Forecast Based On field, select the type of components that you want to use in the calculation. The Receipts only value means that JustFoodERP will use the Purchase entries in the item ledger for the defined date range and location. The Usage only value means that JustFoodERP will use the Sales entries in the item ledger for the defined date range and location. The Net value means that JustFoodERP will subtract the Usage values from the Receipts values.

      The selected value also impacts the type of entries that are used when Include Adjustments or Include Production is selected.

   8. In the Forecast Calc. Source field, select how you want the forecast entries to be calculated.

      • Average: The total for the selected date range divided by the number of periods (as determined from the values in the Item Analysis Date Filter field and Item Analysis Period Type field). For Net based forecasts, the average is the average receipts minus the average usage.

      • Low: The lowest entry in the selected date range. For Net based forecasts, the lowest is the lowest receipt minus the lowest usage.

      • High: The highest entry in the selected date range. For Net based forecasts, the highest is the highest receipt minus the highest usage.

      • Total: The total entries for the selected date range. For Net based forecasts, the total is the total receipts minus the total usage.

   9. Select the Spread Qty. Over Forecast Period(s) check box if you want to spread the forecast over the selected periods defined on the Production Forecast window.

      For example, if your entry has a forecast of 200, if you select this check box, 200 will be divided over the forecast periods. If you do not select this check box, each forecast period will show 200.

   10. In the Action Type field, select what action should occur when the forecast is calculated.

       • Append to Existing Forecast: Select if you are adding months onto an existing forecast. Note: The new data that is being calculated should not be a duplicate of the date/time you already forecast otherwise you will double-up your forecast.

       • Delete Existing Forecast: Select if you are recreating an entire forecast, or creating a new forecast from scratch.

   11. Click OK. The production forecast is calculated, and the Production Forecast window is populated.

Note: Values entered in the Forecast fields on the Planning FastTab of the Item Card window will impact the forecast entries. The value in the Forecast Multiplier field will be multiplied by the average, low, high or total value (for example, if a 2 is entered in the Forecast Multiplier field, and the total entry is 4, then the calculated entry will be 8). The value in the Forecast Rounding Precision field is used to round up the average, low, high or total value (for example, if a 3 is entered for Forecast Rounding Precision field and the total entry is 1, then the calculated entry will be 3. If a 3 is entered for Forecast Rounding Precision field and the total entry is 4, then the calculated entry will be 6).