Demand Planning

Best Practice Scenario: Demand Planning

The Demand Planning business scenario allows you to interactively create demand forecasts in rolling time periods (for example months) using different forecasting methods. You then release the demand forecasts to supply planning. You typically use demand planning to plan forecast demand in a midterm or long-term planning horizon for the Make-to-Stock and Procure-to-Pay (Stock) business scenarios.

Before starting a new periodic forecast for a demand plan that already exists, you must consider potential changes, such as new products, phased out products, and planning horizons. If necessary, you can set up a new demand plan.

Process Flow details Demand Planning

Roles involved to Demand Planning

• Demand Planner

Business Value of Demand Planning

For midsized companies looking to efficiently fulfill customer demand, the planning process will effectively match demand and supply to ensure on-time order delivery. You can interactively manage demand planning to ensure better forecast accuracy and improve inventory levels.
SAP Business ByDesign helps to manage efficiently the demand planning process: from right parameter setup, demand forecasting, management of alternative planning methods through handover to supply planning.

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[caption id="attachment_201664" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] The Business Flow of Demand Planning within SAP Business ByDesign[/caption]

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Key Benefits of Demand Planning

• Demand planning enables forecasting of future demand based on historical data using multiple statistical forecasting methods;
• A guided setup activity leads through the administration tasks necessary to update and prepare demand plans;
• Predefined planning options are available. Reduced setup and update effort as demand planning uses settings in supply planning with respect to:
  - Provision of historical data
  - Release to supply chain execution and forecast consumption
• Leveling of production and related cost savings in procurement and production;
• Avoiding cost of non or late delivery;
• Advanced demand planning options are available such as multilevel demand planning, statistical forecasting, outlier correction, and forecasting of products both in-house and externally procured.

Application

• SAP Business ByDesign

Continue to review the other Business Processes SAP Business ByDesign