Beyond choosing a base model and toggling sales intelligence layers, demand planners have a full suite of tools for making adjustments to the demand plan at any level of granularity.
7.1 Types of Adjustments
Percentage adjustment — increase or decrease the forecast at any level by a percentage. For example, “plus 20% for the next 4 weeks at Kroger for this item based on an expected surge from a circular ad.”
Fixed adjustment — add or subtract a specific quantity. For example, “add 500 cases to the UNFI East DC in week 12 for a special event.”
Final override — replace the entire forecast for a specific node with a number you enter directly. Useful when you have very specific intelligence that overrides the model entirely.
7.2 Comments and Audit History
Every adjustment made in the Demand Planning workspace can be accompanied by a comment. You can also tag team members in comments to notify them of a change or ask for input. All comments and adjustments are saved with a timestamp and the name of the person who made them. You can view the full adjustment history for any node in the hierarchy at any time. This is particularly useful for explaining forecast changes in S&OP meetings — you can always trace back exactly what changed, who made the change, and why.
Tip: Make it a habit to leave a comment on every material adjustment, especially ones that deviate significantly from the model or the sales forecast. This creates a searchable record of business decisions and makes handoffs to new team members much easier. |