The Inventory Forecasting module helps you estimate future demand and identify the quantities you may need to purchase in upcoming periods. It combines historical demand, current stock, approved purchase orders, approved sales orders, production activity, and stock alert levels into one planning view.

You can access this module under Inventory > Inventory Management lists > Inventory Forecasting.

The Inventory Forecasting module can be used to:

• estimate future demand per SKU for a selected number of forecast periods

• review forecast results using day-based or month-based periods

• include expected demand from approved Sales Orders

• include expected supply from approved Purchase Orders

• include expected demand and supply from Production Orders

• compare projected stock against stock alert levels

• identify the Planned Purchase Quantity Needed for each future period

• filter the results by company, inventory location, and supplier

• display only the products that currently need replenishment

The module projects inventory forward period by period. For each selected period, it calculates:

• Forecast Demand: expected demand based on historical activity

• Non-shipped quantity in Sales Orders: demand already committed in approved Sales Orders, also for Sales Orders expected to be shipped in the future.

• Non-Received Quantity in Purchase Orders: supply expected from approved Purchase Orders, also for Purchase Orders expected to be received in the future.

• Non-Allocated quantity in Production Orders: raw material demand expected from Production Orders. For Production Orders with a future Due Date, the demand is expected in future periods.

• Non-Received Quantity in Production Orders: finished-goods supply expected from Production Orders. For Production Orders with a future Due Date, the supply is expected in future periods.

• Starting Quantity: the projected starting stock for the period

• Projected Quantity: expected stock at the end of the period before any new purchase is planned

• Total Stock Alert Level: the product’s safety stock threshold that can be set in the On Hand Inventory, Sub-locations & Stock alerts screen.

• Planned Purchase Quantity Needed: the quantity needed to restore stock above the alert threshold

This gives you a forward-looking view of inventory so you can prepare replenishment decisions before shortages occur.

Before loading results, set the forecast parameters at the top of the screen.

Choose how many future periods you want to review. For example, selecting 6 creates six forecast periods/columns in the grid.

Choose the size of each period. Available options include:

• 1 day

• 5 days

• 1 week

• 10 days

• 2 weeks

• 1 month

• 2 months

• 3 months

• 6 months

• 1 year

Choose how much historical data should be used for the demand forecast. This helps you adapt the forecast to products with stable demand or seasonal demand.

The decay factor determines how much weight is given to recent demand compared to older demand. This lets the forecast react more or less strongly to recent sales patterns.

You can refine the analysis by:

• company (if multiple companies are enabled in the account)

• inventory location / warehouse

• supplier

This is useful when forecasting for a specific branch, supplier relationship, or inventory location.

When selected, the list displays only products with a positive planned purchase quantity.

The forecasting grid displays one row per product. Each forecast period appears as a separate period column. For each period, the module presents a breakdown of the product’s expected inventory movement.

This is the expected demand for the period, based on historical demand patterns and seasonality.

This is the total demand that should be covered during the period. It includes:

• forecasted demand

• approved Sales Order demand (non-allocated quantity in Sales Orders)

• production-related demand (non-allocated quantity in Production Orders)

For the first period, this is the current physical stock position. For later periods, it is the projected ending quantity from the previous period.

This is the projected quantity at the end of the period. The projected quantity is the addition of the Starting Quantity, plus the non-received quantity in Purchase Orders, plus the non-received quantity in Production Orders, minus the Demand to Cover quantity.

This is the quantity recommended for replenishment in order to cover projected demand and maintain stock above the alert level.

You can select one or more products directly in the grid by checking the respective checkbox of the row. The selected rows can then be pinned to the Clipboard for later use in purchasing workflows.

The quantity assigned to each selected product is based on the Planned Purchase Quantity Needed for the currently selected forecast period. At the top of the grid, you can choose which period you want to work with using the Forecasting Period Selector. This is only useful when selecting products to add to the Clipboard, because the quantity passed to the Clipboard depends on the selected period.

This means you can:

1. choose the forecast period you want to act on

2. review the products with planned purchase needs

3. select the relevant products

4. pin them to the Clipboard

5. use them later in a purchase document workflow.

This makes the module useful not only for analysis, but also for execution.

The Inventory Forecasting module does not rely on a simple average only. It uses historical demand patterns and adjusts the results for seasonality based on past activity.

This helps produce more realistic forecasts for products with recurring monthly or seasonal demand patterns. For products with changing demand behaviour, you can fine-tune the result by adjusting:

• the Forecast History Range

• the Demand Decay Factor

To get the most value from the Inventory Forecasting module:

• use a shorter history range for fast-moving or recently changing products

• use a longer history range for stable products with recurring patterns

• review stock alert levels regularly, since planned purchase recommendations depend on them

• filter by supplier when preparing purchasing decisions

• use Show Only Products Needing Purchase to focus on actionable items

• compare several future periods, not just the first one, when preparing replenishment plans

• The visibility of the forecasting module depends on the user’s permissions.

• Sales Order and Purchase Order related figures are shown only if the Ordering module is enabled.

• Production Order related figures are shown only if the Production module is enabled.

The Inventory Forecasting module helps teams move from reactive inventory control to forward-looking planning. By combining expected demand, expected supply, projected stock, and replenishment needs into one screen, it provides a practical foundation for better purchasing and stock decisions.