Planning foundations

Demand planning works at a defined item, region and channel. A customer segment can narrow that series where the business needs a separate forecast. The Demand Planning Manager agrees that grain before opening a cycle, because combining different channels can hide a promotion or a new customer’s effect. Each active planning entity points to an item and a planning horizon; the assigned planner owns the review of that series.

The item record carries its SKU, description, unit, lifecycle stage and active setting. Keep one consistent identifier when loading sales history. A forecast for a mature retail item should not quietly absorb an introduction sold through a different channel. The region and channel values on history and the planning entity help the team check that the periods belong to the intended series.

• Define the grain. Choose the item, region, channel and optional customer segment that will receive a distinct forecast.
• Set the calendar. Use a planning horizon to choose bucket, bucket count, history lookback, fiscal calendar and currency.
• Review the past. Compare dated shipment or invoice quantities with adjustments that strip a one-time order or promotion effect.

Decide which source owns item identity and which shipment or invoice history is authoritative. Record the load source and date. Agree the period cutoff, unit of measure and how backfills will be reviewed. A historical adjustment retains the original and adjusted quantity, reason, method, author and date. It should be possible to explain why a source period changed before the model is rerun.

A paused or retired entity remains visible for analysis, but the team should decide which active entities join the current operating cycle. Demand Planner and Demand Planning Manager should also agree who can change the assigned planner and when the horizon settings may change. A bucket change in the middle of a review makes period comparisons hard to interpret.

Take a finished item sold in the West retail channel. Load several monthly sales periods and identify one unusually large one-time order. The planner records the adjustment against that source sale, then checks that the adjusted history remains tied to the same planning entity. Compare the item, region and channel on the source with those on the entity. Open the next period and confirm the intended horizon and owner are clear. This is a practical way to catch a series mapped to the wrong channel before forecasting starts.

• Active planning entities — The item, region, channel, horizon and assigned planner for each active series.
• My planning entities — The series assigned to the current planner for the next review.

Continue with baseline preparation and consensus to publication.