Note: The following variables can be used in an item planning calculation expression:

• avg_daily_usage: Average daily usage of an item. Average daily usage of an item over the given time range, this is based on the item’s average usage for the entire range (e.g., forecast_days).Effectively usage_qty divided by forecast_days.
• avg_daily_forecast: Average daily forecast of an item. This is effectively forecast_qty divided by forecast_days.
• lead_time_days: Lead time of an item in days. This can come from multiple sources:
  • If there is a SKU and that SKU has a Lead time Calculation field value specified on the SKU card, that value is used.
  • If that value is blank on the SKU card and the related Item card has a Lead Time Calculation field value specified, that value is used.
  • If that value is blank on both SKU and Item cards, the item has a preferred vendor defined on the Item card, and that vendor card has a Lead Time Calculation field value defined on it, that value is used.
  • If all the above Lead Time Calculation fields are blank, a value of “1” is used.
• forecast_qty: Forecast quantity of an item. This is the forecast value coming from the forecasting service.
• forecast_days: Number of forecasted days. This is the number of days in the start and end date range.
• usage_qty: Usage quantity of an item. Usage of the item over the time range.

Note: You may need to add Confidence Level and Forecast Algorithm fields to the page via Personalize/Design, and the options for the Forecast Algorithm field are a subset of those in the Timeseries Model field on the Sales and Inventory Forecast Setup page.

Forecast result lines are returned for all items and periods specified by the field values in the Filter Settings section. The lines contain values in the Safety Stock Quantity, Reorder Point, Maximum Inventory and Reorder Quantity columns equal to the evaluated expressions set on the Enhanced Forecast Setup page.

There must be sufficient sales history (posted Sale-type item ledger entries) that satisfies the field values in the Filter Settings section. If a message is displayed about enough data not existing, this data must be created before running Calculate Forecast again.

Update Demand Forecast does not modify/delete existing demand forecast entries; the action inserts entries based on the results in the worksheet (due to the possibility of multiple forecast entries for the same item over periods greater than a day). For example, sending the same forecast results twice to the same demand forecast results in two times the forecasted quantity being added to the forecast entry for the appropriate period.