Delivery forecasting

An EDI DELFOR (Delivery Forecast) is an electronic message from buyer to supplier giving product requirements regarding details for short term delivery instructions and/or medium to long term product/service forecast for planning purposes. The DELFOR message facilitates better planning, inventory management, and supply chain coordination by sharing delivery forecasts between trading partners.

The DELFOR Entries page displays the forecast data imported from an incoming DELFOR EDI message. It serves as a staging area that lists all DELFOR entries created during message processing.

The DELFOR Entries Overview page plays a key role in supply chain management by supporting planning and providing suppliers with short-term delivery instructions and long-term demand forecasts. This helps businesses optimize stock levels, reduce lead times, and improve overall supply chain operations.

Required setup

The following setups are required.

• The XML file must contain the buyer and GLN code in partner fields.
  The system selects the customer based on the following hierarchy:

  1. The EDI translation for customer (using the buyer GLN code).
  2. The EDI Vendor No. field value on the Customer Card page.
  3. The GLN field value on the Customer Card page.
  4. The GLN field value on the Ship-to Address Card page
     If the above field values are empty, the system throws an error.

• Assign the appropriate ship-to address and location to the selected customer. The ship-to address is derived from the EDI translation value of the delivery partner GLN code.
  The system assigns the location code based on the following hierarchy:

  1. The location code on the Ship-to Address Card page.
  2. The location code on the Customer Card page.
  3. The location code on the Company Information page.

While processing the Aptean EDI DELFOR message, the system displays errors when the DocumentType text element is not set as DELFOR.

To view the delivery forecast entries based on the required filter inputs, follow the below steps.

1. Select the Search icon , enter DELFOR Entries Overview and then choose the related link.
   The DELFOR Entries Overview page opens.
   The EDI Document Date field is updated with the Work Date field value from settings.

2. In the Requested Delivery Date From and Requested Delivery Date Until fields, select a date based on which you want to filter the delivery forecast entries.

3. In the Customer No., Location, Item No., and Variant Code fields, select the values as required.

4. On the action bar, select Process > Calculate.
   The delivery forecast entries are filtered based on the provided values and displayed accordingly. The system displays both the previous and latest forecast quantity for each entry, with the latest entry shown in bold. The Type field is set to Latest for the most recent forecasted quantity and to Forecast for the previous forecasted quantity of each entry.

5. Select Page > Show Latest Forecast Entries action to view the only most recent forecasted quantity for the entries.

6. Select Process > Update Demand Forecast action to update the entries to the Demand Forecast Overview page.
   The Demand Forecast Filter page opens.

7. In the Demand Forecast Name field, select the desired demand forecast name. This displays only the forecast of type, Sales Item.

8. On selecting OK, the entries are posted and the respective demand forecast entries are updated.