Overview
Unliked Fixed Productions which are planned in advance, Variable Productions are planned on the same day after reviewing sales data.
Setting a Variable Production
Navigate to Production > Production Planner and click the ‘Plan' or 'Edit' button for todays date.
Select the 'Variable Production' tab.
If required, adjust the auto-populated quantities in the "VP" column
Once you are happy click 'Save'
Click 'Plan Benches', you'll be taken to the bench planning screen for your Variable Production
Variable Production Table
In the Variable Production table we show at a product level:
The quantities produced in P1 and P2
The number sold
The number still available for sale (including items produced via On Demand)
The number required for closing range (if this product is required for closing range)
The Initial Forecast: the forecasted sales for the day
The Adjusted Forecast: the updated forecast based on intraday sales performance
The 'VP' column is then auto-populated based on these numbers.
How Adjusted Forecasts Work
We use intraday forecasting to continuously update your forecast throughout the day based on actual sales performance. Here's how it works:
We compare your actual sales to the initial forecast for completed hours
If you're selling more or less than forecasted, we add or subtract the difference to your remaining forecast to ensure you make enough to fulfill demand
For example: if you were forecasted to sell 6 items but sold 7, we add an extra 1 to the adjusted forecast
Both the Initial Forecast and Adjusted Forecast columns are shown in the table so you can compare how sales are tracking against the original plan.
⚠️ Important: The adjusted forecast only updates based on completed hours. This prevents temporary fluctuations within the current hour from skewing the forecast. For example, if you're forecasted to sell 6 items between 11:00 - 12:00 but haven't sold any by 11:30, we don't adjust the forecast down - sales might still happen before noon.
💡Tip: Check the Hourly sales Forecast tab to see live sales data for the current hour and make any immediate decisions if needed.
Hourly Sales Forecast
The Hourly Sales Forecast tab shows per product the forecasted sales broken down by hour.
In this view, you'll see a small indicator next to the forecast number showing how actual sales differ from what was originally forecasted for that hour. For example, if it shows "1 (+1)", this means 0 items were forecasted for that hour, but you sold 1, so we added 1 to the adjusted forecast.
The forecast continues to adjust throughout the day based on completed hours. This means at the end of the day, you can check the VP Planner to see what the final adjusted forecast was, even after your VP numbers have already been set.