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For organizations aiming to achieve accuracy in their demand planning and forecasting, the enhancements in the demand planning module in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management offer a powerful solution. This update brings a new level of sophistication, making it Microsoft’s next-generation collaborative demand planning tool.
Powered by best-in-class forecasting algorithms and demand forecasting and planning models, the Demand Planning app offers an intuitive user experience, intelligent reports, and advanced analytics features. These enhancements empower organizations to build a more agile, resilient, and sustainable demand-planning practice driven by intelligence and collaboration.
The Demand Planning app comes with improved ARIMA forecasting, the ability to run up to 5 forecasts simultaneously, increased stability, and several other features that enhance your demand planning and forecasting, bridging your company’s sales and operations verticals.
This blog explores the key demand planning features in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management and provides a guide on how to get started.
Key features of Demand Planning in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management
We are all familiar with what is demand planning in supply chain management. It is the linchpin of an effective supply chain and serves as a bridge between the market’s demands and a company’s internal operations.
With the integration of AI into demand planning, supply chain management has reached new levels of sophistication. Companies are now reaping the benefits of this evolution through enhanced forecasting accuracy, real-time inventory updates, and more.
The Demand Planning App in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management builds upon these advancements. It offers a range of powerful features that further enhance your ability to predict outcomes with flexible, AI-driven forecasting and analyze what-if scenarios in real time.
Further readings: Discover the advantages of Demand Planning App in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management
Let’s explore some of the top features this app has to offer, taking your demand planning capabilities to the next level.
Enhance planning precision with Edit on Total Level
The Edit on Total Level feature is designed to empower planners by enabling efficient and comprehensive edits across broader datasets.
Planners can make extensive edits across multiple data points, apply date filters to navigate to specific data sets, and apply proportional changes to data, ensuring that adjustments are consistent and precise across the entire dataset.
This functionality significantly enhances the planning workflow by allowing planners to make impactful changes on a larger scale, thereby saving time and increasing productivity.
Boost forecast accuracy with Filter in Transformation
Another powerful feature in demand planning is the Filter in Transformation. This tool enables precise data transformation, enhancing the accuracy and effectiveness of “what-if” analysis and forecasting on specific datasets.
With this feature, you can perform what-if forecasting on filtered subsets of data and refine your demand planning by filtering staging data before transformation. You can even experiment with dimensions for more precise planning, making your demand forecasting and planning not just accurate but smarter overall!
Elevate collaboration with the Comments feature
The comments feature in Demand Planning has revolutionized collaboration and communication within the app. Planners can now provide detailed explanations for any changes, enhancing transparency and elevating team collaboration. With real-time communication, everyone can stay aligned, fostering consensus-building. Additionally, planners can perform retrospective analyses to pinpoint key decision moments, further refining the planning process.
Strengthen oversight with an enhanced System Administrator Role
The System Administrator’s role in Demand Planning has been significantly enhanced. Administrators can now install the app, assign roles, manage teams, and oversee critical operations more efficiently.
User access is carefully controlled, allowing only limited users to view and edit shared worksheets based on permissions. For added security, administrators can assign row-level access rules, specifying conditions for specific tables, columns, and operators. This ensures that sensitive data is protected and accessible only to authorized personnel.
Getting started with Demand Planning in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management
To use Demand Planning with Supply Chain Management, your system must be running one of the following versions:
- Supply Chain Management version 10.0.36, build 10.0.1695.83 or later
- Supply Chain Management version 10.0.37, build 10.0.1725.60 or later
- Supply Chain Management version 10.0.38 or later (any build)
You must have the appropriate license to use Demand Planning in a production environment.
Setting up and installing the Demand Planning app
You can use the Power Platform admin center to install Demand Planning for your tenant and set up the feature in supply chain management.
Ensure that Demand Planning is installed on the same tenant as your Supply Chain Management environment. This allows the built-in import and export profiles to function correctly for seamless data transfer.
Follow these steps to get started:
- Sign in to the Power Platform admin center.
- Go to Resources and choose Dynamics 365 apps through the navigation pane on your left.
- From the options, find Dynamics 365 Demand Planning Application.
- Hit the Install button on the top toolbar.
- Next, choose the environment, review the packages to be installed, and check the “I agree to the terms of service” box.
- After this, choose Install.
Empower your future with advanced Demand Planning in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management
Dynamics 365 is certainly redefining the future of demand planning, offering organizations a path to smarter, more accurate forecasting. By integrating Microsoft’s Demand Planning App with Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management (SCM), your organization can create a resilient demand planning process that leverages AI, historical sales data, and market insights, leading to greater customer satisfaction through optimized supply chain operations.
As a trusted Microsoft Solutions Partner, Confiz can help you leverage the full potential of the Demand Planning App and enhance your forecasting and demand planning capabilities. Our expertise ensures smooth integration of the app into your existing Dynamics 365 Supply Chain module, minimizing disruptions while maximizing value. Explore our consultancy services to see how this powerful tool can transform your supply chain strategy. For more information, reach out to us at marketing@confiz.com.
