Dynamics F/SCM
Dynamics F/SCM
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Why does Master Planning always ignore demand forecasts dated in the past?
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Why does Master Planning always ignore demand forecasts dated in the past?
I’m raising a question that has been raised before in the hope that somebody can give me a sensible answer.
The question is: Why does D365FO Master Planning always ignore demand forecasts dated in the past? I was hoping that this would be resolved in Planning Optimization, but unfortunately it hasn’t.
I can understand why such forecasts are sometimes ignored – I just don’t know why they are always ignored. In particular, when the ‘Transactions – Reduction key’ forecast consumption method is used, and the Reduction key that’s used has an Effective date of the 1st of the current month (see the attached example), I believe forecasts dated prior to today, but in the current month, must be included when either Master Planning or Planning Optimization is run. I would therefore argue that it’s a bug that they aren’t being included.
I know you can use a period key to split a monthly forecast into weekly (or even daily) forecasts, but this is only a workaround and doesn’t really solve the problem.
A common response to this question is that any forecasts dated in the past should be ignored because they would have been consumed if they were accurate forecasts. I would argue that this requires forecasts to be 100% accurate, so is impractical. Also, even if the forecast was 100% accurate, a slight delay in shipping a sales order that previously consumed all or part of a past forecast could cause it to consume a later forecast, which will increase a planned order quantity for no reason.
Do you have an opinion on this?
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1 Reply
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In my view, the exclusion of past-dated demand forecasts in D365FO Master Planning is an intentional design choice to maintain a forward-looking approach, prioritizing future requirements over retrospective adjustments. While this can lead to challenges with intra-period forecasts, as you describe, it aligns with the system’s reliance on actual transactions for accuracy. Using period keys for disaggregation remains a viable, though imperfect, mitigation strategy.
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