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      Latest Forecast

      Learn how to use the Latest Forecast Dashboard

      The Latest Forecast Dashboard is a Lite plan feature.

      Summary

      The Latest Forecast dashboard helps you monitor and respond to retailer sales forecasts. It shows the latest day's forecast and highlights any changes against the previous day's forecast. Use it to:

      • Plan short-term supply to meet upcoming retailer demand.

      • Spot unexpected changes in demand and adapt supply plans or challenge your customer on the changes.

      Forecast Report


      Setting up the dashboard

      The dashboard gives you six configuration options in the top bar, from left to right:

      • Select Forecast: Choose the forecast type between Sales forecast or Order forecast.

       

      What's on screen

      There are three components on-screen, from top to bottom:

      • KPI tiles: The KPI tiles show the headline totals for the latest forecast. Depending on the forecast type selected, a typical order forecast contains 21 days, and a sales forecast contains 14 days. 

        To best understand the changes between forecasts, the comparable KPI tile (either 20 days or 13 days) compares the same days in both files and excludes days not present in both. 

        The Absolute change tile sums the variance between the previous and latest files. This is important to avoid missing changes in the forecast. For example, the table below shows an absolute change of 24 units which would go unnoticed when viewing just the aggregate change in the total forecast.
        Date Previous Forecast Latest Forecast Forecast Variance Absolute Change
        10-Jan 10 22 12 12
        11-Jan 34 22 -12 12
            Total 0 24
        • In the previous forecast, the retailer predicted sales of 10 units on the 10th of January and 34 units on the 11th of January, a total of 44 units across the two days.
        • In the latest forecast, they are predicting sales of 22 units on the 10th of January, and 22 units on the 11th of January, a total of 44 units across the two days. 
        • Although, in aggregate, the forecasts are the same (both 44 units), the absolute change in the forecasts is 24 (12 each day).
        • The absolute change can significantly impact the size and timing of deliveries required to meet demand, which is hidden when viewing the forecast in aggregate. 
      • Time series: the time series shows a bar for each day of the latest file and a black line to show the value for the same day in the previous file.  
      • Product Breakdown: shows three bars. The first bar represents the total value of the latest forecast. The second bar shows the value for the comparable days from the latest forecast, with a black line indicating the value from the previous forecast. The final bar illustrates the variance between the previous and latest forecasts for the comparable days.