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Forecast Control

Use the Forecast Control item attribute to tell Oracle Master Scheduling/MRP and Supply Chain Planning the types of demand that you place for models, option classes, options, and mandatory components. Oracle Master Scheduling/MRP and Supply Chain Planning uses the Forecast Control value you assign to each assemble-to-order and pick-to-order item to guide the behavior of the major processes that it uses to support two-level master scheduling.

The following section discusses the four types of demand that you can place for an item, and identifies the appropriate Forecast Control attribute value for each type of demand.

Choosing a Value for Forecast Control

There are four types of demand that you can place for your models, option classes, options, and mandatory components:

Independent Forecast Demand

Independent forecast demand is demand that you place for an item by entering forecasts for the item directly--rather than exploding forecast to the item using forecast explosion. You typically define direct forecasts for items, such as a planning items or models, whose demand is independent of any other item. Define direct forecasts by entering them manually using the Forecast Entries window, or by loading forecasts from external systems or Oracle Inventory.

If you forecast demand directly for an item, then set Forecast Control to Consume.

Exploded Forecast Demand

Exploded forecast demand is demand that you generate for an item when you explode forecasts to the item using forecast explosion. You typically generate exploded forecast demand for items, such as option classes and options, whose demand is directly related to or derived from the bill of material structure for other items.

If you forecast demand for an item by exploding demand from a higher level item in a bill of material, set Forecast Control to Consume and Derive.

In some cases, you may have items that are subject to both types of forecast demand. For example, the keyboard that is forecast and sold as a mandatory component with a Laptop Computer may also be forecast and sold separately as a spare or service part.

You use Forecast Control to control which models, option classes, options, and mandatory components in a model bill receive exploded forecasts, since forecast explosion only generates exploded forecast demand for items where you have set Forecast Control to Consume and Derive.

Attention: Set Forecast Control to None to identify items that have dependent demand that should be calculated by the planning process, using standard MRP planning logic, rather than through forecast explosion. An example of this type of item is a user manual that is either MRP or min-max planned and replenished.

If you forecast demand for an item directly, and explode forecast demand to the item, set Forecast Control to Consume and Derive.

Sales Order Demand

Sales order demand is demand that you place when your customers order configurations. As your customers order configurations, Oracle Order Entry automatically places sales order demand for each model, option class, and option selected by your customer when they place the order.

If you place sales order demand for an item, but do not forecast the item, set Forecast Control to None.

Derived Sales Order Demand

Under normal circumstances, Oracle Order Entry does not place sales order demand for mandatory components when your customers order configurations. If you are forecasting key mandatory components, however, you will usually want to maintain your forecasts by generating sales order demand for the mandatory components and consuming the forecasts as your customers place sales orders.

You can set the Forecast Control attribute to Consume or Consume and Derive to automatically place demand and consume forecasts for mandatory components when you place sales orders demand for configurations that include the mandatory components.

If you forecast demand for a mandatory component, either directly or through forecast explosion, set Forecast Control to Consume or Consume and Derive.

Summary

The following table summarizes, for each type of item, the types of demand that Oracle Master Scheduling/MRP and Supply Chain Planning assumes is placed for different values of Forecast Control.

    Demand Type
Item Type Forecast Control Forecast Exploded Forecast Sales Order Derived Sales Order
Models and Option Classes Consume    
Consume and Derive  
Option Consume    
Consume and Derive  
None        
Mandatory Component Consume    
Consume and Derive  
None        
Product Family Consume  
Consume and Derive
Table 1 - 6. Choosing a Value for Forecast Control: Summary

Two-Level Master Scheduling Processes

The following table summarizes the effect of Forecast Control on the following major processes that Oracle Master Scheduling/MRP and Supply Chain Planning uses to implement two-level master scheduling:

Forecast Consumption (a) and Forecast Consumption (b) represent forecast consumption before and after the AutoCreate Configuration process creates the configuration item and single-level bill for a configuration. CD represents component demand, NR represents net requirements, SO represents sales order demand, and FC represents forecast demand.

Attention: Notice that the only difference between the Consume option and the Consume and Derive option is that forecast explosion generates exploded forecast demand for items where Forecast Control is set to Consume and Derive.

Forecast Control Process Models and Option Classes Options Mandatory Components
Consume Forecast Explosion Do not generate exploded forecast demand Do not generate exploded forecast demand Do not generate exploded forecast demand
Forecast Consumption (a) Consume actual sales order demand Consume actual sales order demand Consume derived sales order demand
Forecast Consumption (b) Consume configuration component demand Consume configuration component demand Consume configuration component demand
MDS Load Load actual sales order demand Load actual sales order demand Load derived sales order demand
Production Relief Relieve when configuration work order is created Relieve when option work order is created Relieve when component work order is created
Shipment Relief Relieve when configuration sales order is shipped Relieve when configuration sales order is shipped Relieve when configuration sales order is shipped
Consume and Derive Forecast Explosion Generate exploded forecast demand Generate exploded forecast demand Generate exploded forecast demand
Forecast Consumption (a) As above As above As above
Forecast Consumption (b) As above As above As above
MDS Load As above As above As above
Production Relief As above As above As above
Shipment Relief As above As above As above
None Forecast Explosion Not applicable Do not generate exploded forecast demand Do not generate exploded forecast demand
Forecast Consumption (a) Not applicable Consume actual sales order demand Do not consume
Forecast Consumption (b) Not applicable Do not consume Do not consume
MDS Load Not applicable Load actual sales order demand Do not load derived sales order demand
Production Relief Not applicable Relieve when option work order is created Relieve when component work order is created
Shipment Relief Not applicable Do not relieve Do not relieve
Table 1 - 7. Forecast Control and Two-Level Master Scheduling Processes

See Also

Overview of Forecast Explosion

Forecast Consumption for Models and Predefined Configurations

Consumption of Predefined Configurations

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