Hi,
We have started using Forecasts and are trying to work out the best way to address the following:
We have a part number where we added a forecast for Qty 225 in December. A PO was raised and the forecast Qty was ordered and received into stock. Per below, it is now ‘On Hand’.
We now have a job to use the stock, due April. However, per below MRP has created a new suggestion to buy more stock, rather than use the existing stock.
Time Phase is still showing that the forecast requires 225. Now that a real job exists, how do we get it to consume the existing stock?
Forecast will only be consumed by Sales Orders, and nothing else. So, if there were sales orders open for that specific part, it would be consumed. Since the order is for a different part, the forecast will not be consumed.
I forget what the manufacturing forecast is called, but yes, Epicor does support it. It is setup using these menus.
Gonna call in @timshuwy to remind me what the standard term for this functionality is so you can google it to learn more. It is some acronym that begins with an M if I remember correctly.
I suspect the M acronym you are looking for would be Master Production Schedule (MPS)? That’s really a forecast of a different variation on a forecast though.
Maybe the new(ish) planning BOM’s functionality is what you need to make this really work? I think that John is correct in that you will be happier forecasting those top level items if possible.
Planning BOM is an added functionality that allows you to build a fictitious bill of material with percentages of various types of parts in the BOM… .then you can forecast the planning bom, and the system will use those percentages to tell what you need of each subcomponent. it is great when you have many possible variations of something and you dont want to forcase dozens of part numbers. For example, you might sell BIKES and you have 10 different colors, and three different handlebar styles… you simply create a planning bom that lists all the colors and all the handlebars along with their percentages. then forcast the BIKE.
MPS is different. You can create a “Master Production Schedule” that defines what you are GOING TO BUILD… note that this is a schedule that YOU create.YOU are planning it, and you set that production schedule in motion… then when sales is selling something, they compare the order with the “ATP” (Available to promise) which allows them to see what of the MPS plan is still available and not consumed by other customers.
Part X had Qty 60 on-hand. In MPS Entry, I added demand for Qty 100.
MRP created a PO suggestion for 100 to satisfy the MPS demand, which was ordered and received into stock.
Per Time Phase screenshot below, the on-hand quantity is now 160.
I then created a ‘real’ job which requires the 160. However, as shown, MRP has created a new suggestion to buy another 100. It is not consuming the 160 already in stock and is showing the MPS demand as still outstanding.
Well, I suspect that might be because it’s a master PRODUCTION schedule and it expected to see a job to fill that MPS Demand rather than a PO, but I have no receipts to back that up it’s just a guess.
I think that you need to forecast/mps the items you are making not the materials you are consuming. That was where the idea of the planning BOM might be something that helps your situation came from. You could add this item to a planning BOM and forecast/MPS that item which would drive demand for its components.
Unfortunately, these are ‘long lead’ parts, being purchased in advance of the Assemblies they are required for. The assemblies do not yet have a part number or finished design.
Not sure on Planning BOMs - the challenge is that we’d need to create a new one, with a completely different materials list each time, due to how bespoke our order requirements are.
Tried looking at Planning Contracts, but the problem was that you need to have Planning-Contract-specific bins. We have thousands of projects, so creating project-specific locations wasn’t viable. Particularly as we already have general standardised bins for stock.
For now, the only effective workaround I can find is to mark the forecast as ‘inactive’ once the items have been purchased. That gets rid of the demand on Time Phase.
If we use Forecast Entry and a planning BOM to forecast BIKES, but then our Sales Orders come in for part numbers like MXB123, FX2000, etc. (the model numbers), do we then manually reduce the forecasted qty because Epicor won’t see those Sales Orders as consuming “BIKES”?
Yes - we found the Forecast Qty is only consumed if the forecast part number matches the Sales Order Line part number.
If Forecasts are created for lower-level parts - once the real demand exists, we either have to reduce the Forecast Qty or untick the ‘Active’ tickbox on the Forecast entry. This stops the demand doubling up.
I’ve been testing Planning Contracts instead - you could see if these work for you. However, they have some major drawbacks -
You need to create specific and unique bins for each Planning Contract. If you have standardised Bins/locations, you would need to duplicate these for each new Planning Contract.
Jobs consuming Planning Contract stock must be linked to the Planning Contract— and all materials on that Job must be fulfilled from the Planning Contract, not just select parts.
At any point were you using Forecast and MPS on the same part? I believe that causes issues, it’s either you forecast, or use MPS but not both at once on the same part.
We are currently using MPS to direct MRP when we are making Finished Goods. This sets jobs to start exactly when we want them to. This also adds demand on materials in the BOM for purchase/manufacture.
When we first tried out forecasting we were using MPS and Forecast on the same part, and that didn’t work at all. Definitely something to watch out for.
Now, we only use one or the other, never both. We like Forecast best, but we’re still hoping for the feature that will link forecasted planning BOMs to the sellable part numbers.