Consensus Forecasting Workflow
The following workflow provides a high‑level view of the Consensus Forecasting process. Each step represents a key phase in the workflow. Select the links within each step to view detailed instructions and page‑level guidance.
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Before proceeding, verify that the proper system settings and user access rights are enabled.
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1. Set up the SIOP structure
a. Validate that the Departments are defined. Make changes to existing Department definitions or add any that are missing.
b. Validate that the Business Units are defined.
▪ Modify existing Business Unit definitions or add missing ones.
▪ Adjust the assigned Departments as needed.
c. Create the SIOP Plan.
2. Prepare the SIOP Plan for Department Forecasting
a. Open the SIOP Plans page. You may already have this page loaded if you created the SIOP Plan in step 1c.
b. Click next to the row of the SIOP Plan created in step 1c and select Prepare For Planning.The progress of the process can be viewed in the Tasks container on the SIOP Plan Worksheet page.
When this action runs:
▪ One Forecast Scenario is created for each Department.
▪ One Forecast Scenario is created for the Consensus Forecast activity.
Forecast Scenario Naming:
▪ Forecast Scenario for a Department: <Department Name> – Baseline
▪ Consensus Forecast Scenario: Consensus – Baseline
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The only way to create a new Forecast Scenario is to copy an existing Forecast Scenario. If multiple Forecast Scenarios are required, copy the baseline Forecast Scenario. Use the <Department Name> – Baseline scenario only as a starting point.
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3. Notify Participating Departments
Notify the participating Department representatives that the SIOP Plan is ready for Forecasting.
4. Review and Adjust Department Forecasts
a. {optional}Copy the system-generated Department Forecast Scenario.
b. Review the SIOP Plan on the SIOP Plan Worksheet page.
c. Review and make overrides to system-generated Department Forecasts on the Department Forecast Worksheet page.
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If modifications are made to the forecast values, click Synchronize Overrides on the toolbar of the Department Forecast Worksheet to initiate the process that recalculates forecasts across the hierarchy and aligns them with applied overrides.
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5. Submit the Department Forecast Scenario for Review
a. Open the SIOP Plan Worksheet page.
b. Navigate to the Forecast Scenarios container and click next to the row of the Forecast Scenario and select Submit for Review.
This process creates the Consensus Forecast Scenario, which is available for review on the Consensus Forecast Worksheet page.
6. Review and Adjust Consensus Forecasts
a. Open the Consensus Forecast Worksheet page.
b. Select the node on the Business Hierarchy container.
c. Navigate to the Forecast Streams container and review and make overrides to the system-generated Consensus Forecasts.
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If modifications are made to the forecast values, click Synchronize Overrides on the toolbar of the Consensus Forecast Worksheet page to initiate the process that recalculates forecasts across the hierarchy and aligns them with applied overrides.
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7. Generate SKU-Level Forecasts from the Consensus Forecast Scenario
After the Consensus Forecasts are reviewed and adjusted, generate the SKU‑level forecasts from the Consensus Forecast Scenario.
a. Open the SIOP Plan Worksheet page.
b. Navigate to the Forecast Scenarios container and click next to the row of the Forecast Scenario and select Generate Forecasts.
This action starts the background process that disaggregates the Business Hierarchy-level forecast to the SKU-level forecast.
8. Use the SKU-Level Consensus Forecasts in SIOP Planning
After the SKU-level forecasts are generated, they can be used in the downstream SIOP Inventory Optimization process and analysis.
a. Open the Category page to create a new category to be used to group the Optimization Scenarios created from the Consensus Forecast Scenario.
b. Open the Scenarios page to create a new scenario with the following specific settings:
▪ Category= The category created in step 8a
▪ Forecast Type = SIOP Forecast Scenario
▪ Forecast Scenario = The Consensus Forecast Scenario created in step5b
Set the remaining Scenario settings per the business requirements and Save the Scenario.
c. Select the Scenario from the listing on the Scenarios page, click Run on the toolbar and then select Calculate.
This action starts the background process that calculates the Scenario.
9. Review and Revise Optimization Results
After the Scenario calculation process completes successfully, the Optimization results can be reviewed.
a. Open the Scenarios page.
b. Click 
that appears next to the Optimization Scenario and select a page from the dropdown list to use for reviewing the results.
that appears next to the Optimization Scenario and select a page from the dropdown list to use for reviewing the results.c. {optional] Go back to step 6 if the forecasts need to be adjusted again and repeat step 6 – step 9.