Understanding the Forecast Consumption Setup

You set up forecast consumption periods to identify a period of time in which forecasts are consumed by sales orders. The system stores this information in the Forecast Consumption Periods table (F3405).

You define the end date for each forecast consumption period on the Work With Forecast Consumption Revisions form. The periods apply system-wide. You cannot have different forecast consumption periods for different locations or branch/plants.

The system adds the forecast consumption periods to the number of time series periods that you specified in the processing options for the MRP/MPS Requirements Planning program. The total for all time periods cannot exceed 52.

Note: You are not confined to entering forecast in the same period patterns as the consumption periods. For example, you can have weekly forecasts to smooth the demand while having a monthly consumption period.

You must set up the Planning Fence field on the Additional System Information form, Plant Manufacturing tab with a value that is beyond the end of the planning horizon (a planning fence of 999 is recommended). If you do not set the planning fence beyond the planning horizon, the batch planning programs (DRP/MPS/MRP Regeneration and Net Change) do not work properly.