Best Practices for Setting Up Forecasting Tables for Forecast Trees

Keep these points in mind while you set up the forecasting tables based on which the demand forecasting process constructs forecast trees:

• Oracle recommends that you not start from scratch while constructing the forecasting table for a forecast tree. Instead, make a copy of one of the predefined forecasting tables (for example, Forecast Bookings Definitions or Forecast Shipments Definitions), and change the copy to suit your requirements.
• Don’t use any time-related dimensions in the forecasting table.
• Include at least three effective hierarchy levels in the forecasting table.
• Ensure that the data aggregation of the levels decreases along the row edge of the forecasting table. The arrangement of levels must be meaningful to your business process.
• For each dimension, select levels from a single hierarchy while configuring the forecasting table, and don’t select levels from multiple hierarchies.

  If you select levels from multiple hierarchies, the demand forecasting process uses the hierarchy that has the most levels. If there is a tie in this regard, the hierarchy with the lowest internal ID is selected. Consequently, you have less control over the final structure of the forecast tree.