Supply Chain Planning
Prerequisites: Version dimension exists (
skill:building-versions-and-planning-cycles). Calendar configured (skill:setting-up-calendar).
Demand Planning
When: forecast product demand based on historical sales, seasonality, market signals, or sales team input.
Dimensions: Version, Month, Product (or SKU), Region (or Channel). Add Customer segment if demand varies by customer type.
Structure: historical demand metric (imported from ERP/WMS). Statistical forecast using FORECAST_ETS (seasonal) or FORECAST_LINEAR (trend-only) (see skill:forecasting-in-pigment). Judgmental adjustment metric (input) for sales team overrides on top of the statistical baseline. Final demand = statistical forecast + adjustment, or override-first using IFBLANK(adjustment, statistical).
Version usage: each planning cycle produces a demand plan version. Consensus demand (from S&OP) is a separate version or a dedicated metric combining inputs.
Reporting: Product (rows) × Month (columns) showing historical, statistical forecast, adjustments, and final demand. Chart widgets for demand trend with actuals overlay. Forecast accuracy = (Actual - Forecast) / Actual, tracked per version.
Inventory Management
When: plan inventory levels, safety stock, reorder points, and days of supply by product and location.
Dimensions: Version, Month, Product (or SKU), Warehouse (or Location). Product properties: Lead Time (days or months), Unit Cost, Min Order Quantity, Safety Stock Target.
Structure: when both opening and closing balances must be visible (reporting, reorder analysis, drill-down), use separate beginning and ending balance metrics dimensioned by Product and Month. Link them with PREVIOUSOF over an iterative calculation cycle (see skill:iterating-with-previous-and-cycles). Do not collapse to a single balance metric with PREVIOUS(Month) unless the user only needs one output line.
Beginning balance = prior period ending balance (seed the first period from opening stock). Ending balance = beginning + supply/receipts − consumption/demand. Reorder logic is typically a flag plus quantity metric; supply can feed ending directly or via an intermediate receipts metric.
Build order:
- Create all metrics in the dependency chain (balances, demand, reorder logic, supply/receipts as needed).
- Create the iterative calculation cycle over Month including the mutually dependent balance metrics.
- Write PREVIOUSOF on the beginning balance, then the ending roll-forward.
Do not substitute [SELECT: Month - 1] for PREVIOUSOF on a separate ending balance; it does not join the cycle.
Reporting: Product × Month grid showing inventory levels, days of supply, reorder alerts. Conditional formatting: red when below safety stock. KPI widgets for total inventory value and average days of supply.
Procurement Planning
When: plan purchase orders, supplier allocation, and procurement spend based on demand and inventory targets.
Dimensions: Version, Month, Product (or SKU), Supplier. Product properties: Lead Time, Unit Cost, Min Order Quantity. Supplier properties: Lead Time Override, Preferred flag.
Structure: net requirements = demand plan - projected available inventory. Planned order quantity = net requirements adjusted to Min Order Quantity (round up using CEILING). Order timing = shift planned orders backward by lead time (SELECT: Month - Lead_Time). Supplier allocation: if single source, direct assignment; if multi-source, allocation weights by supplier. Procurement spend = quantity × unit cost.
Reporting: Supplier (rows) × Month (columns) showing planned orders and spend. Product-level detail in drill-down views. KPI widgets for total procurement spend by version.
S&OP (Sales & Operations Planning)
When: align demand plan, supply plan, and financial plan into a consensus view for executive review.
Dimensions: Version, Month, Product (or Product Family). S&OP typically operates at a higher granularity (product family, quarter) than detailed planning.
Structure: demand plan (from demand planning, aggregated to product family). Supply plan (from inventory + procurement, aggregated). Revenue plan (demand × price). Gap analysis: demand vs supply capacity, revenue plan vs financial target. Use a Table block to combine demand, supply, revenue, and gap metrics into a single S&OP dashboard.
Cross-application: if demand, supply, and finance live in separate applications, use Libraries to share the relevant output metrics into an S&OP reporting app (see skill:sharing-data-between-applications). Keep detailed planning in domain apps; S&OP app consumes aggregated outputs only.
Reporting: Product Family (rows) × Month or Quarter (columns). One Board page per S&OP topic: demand review, supply review, financial reconciliation, executive summary. Use chart widgets for demand vs supply overlay (combined chart) and revenue gap waterfall.
