Overview

The scenario includes both manual capturing of sales forecast data for a specific business unit and population the sales forecast with the data calculated by the statistical model. The sales forecast data captured this way must be further checked, consolidated at the enterprise level, adjusted taking into account company-specific and other parameters not taken into account in the data calculated by the statistical models.

Aggregation levels of forecast data depend on business needs. Typically, the product group and market are used on the aggregation level. Sometimes, instead of product groups, the item of product is used as a level of aggregation; instead of the market, the regions, countries, and even individual customers. The rules for aggregation and consolidation, as well as the planning horizons, must be aligned with operational and financial planning.

As external sources of information, direct information from customers or general market information can be considered. As internal sources of information, you can consider past period actual sales or/and past period sales forecasts.