Scheduled forecasts may be managed through the Scheduling menu item, found under Configuration. This feature uses a standard calendar interface. Selecting a period on the calendar will launch the Schedule Forecast interface where the study, scenario, and schedule can be selected.

Requirements

To ensure the scheduled forecast runs uninterrupted, there are three pre-requisites which must be met before the study and scenario can be selected from this screen: 

1. Set up a read-only scenario

2. Load an extract (and ensure mapping is complete)

3. Run a forecast 

When a scenario meets these three criteria, it will appear in the dropdown on the Schedule Forecast screen. These steps are necessary so that the scheduled forecast can reliably run without errors. If a scheduled forecast cannot run for any reason, the user will receive a notification stating that it has failed (only if enabled).

Note: It is also recommended that the demand and supply configuration settings are defined in the specification, otherwise, the last settings used for a forecast will be applied to the next scheduled run.

1. Make Scenario Read-Only

The scenario intended for scheduled forecasting must be set as ‘read-only’ before a schedule can be set up.This prevents users from modifying the contents of a scenario so that the schedule will not be interrupted by an interpreter error. The read-only/editable status of a scenario can be set directly from the SMART Editor, or from the Select Study/Scenario menu.

Note: If scenario has been marked as read-only and has scheduled forecasts associated with it, then making it editable again will delete the associated schedules.

2. Load an Extract

An extract must be loaded and mapped in order for the schedule to be set up. This includes the label group-lot association completed via Inventory Summary. This step ensures that the next extract loaded as part of the scheduled run will be correctly loaded for the forecast.

3. Run a Forecast 

A forecast of the specification with actuals must be completed in order for future forecasts to be scheduled. This ensures that there are no errors to prevent future runs from proceeding as scheduled.

Scheduling a Forecast

The scheduling interface will differ depending on the user's role but everyone will see a calendar with current schedules displayed.

• The calendar can be viewed by day, week, or month.

• The Today button will return the user to the current period.

• The time displayed above the calendar is always UTC and when scheduling forecasts the time set is also UTC.

Admin and Editor users have the option to view either:

• My Schedule: Only shows schedules set up by the user

• Team Schedule: Shows all schedules from all users

Read-Only users can only view the Team Schedule - they cannot create new schedules or edit existing schedules. Both Admins and Editors can set up new schedules. Admins users can edit any existing schedule while Editors users can only edit the forecasts they have scheduled.

Selecting the desired start date on the calendar will launch the Schedule Forecast interface. This pop-up allows the user to select the study and scenario to be forecasted. The Select a study and Select a scenario dropdown lists only populate with studies/scenarios that meet the three prerequisites (read-only scenario, extract loaded, forecast completed). 

The user can then select a start date, time, end date, choose the repetition, and rename the event. The name will automatically populate with the study name and scenario. The end date will populate with the next period by default so be sure to update this to the required date.

Once the schedule is saved, it will run as specified unless the extract cannot be loaded, or the forecast fails. In the event of a failures the user will receive a notification detailing the issue. The schedule will attempt to run again at the next scheduled slot until updated, paused, or deleted.

Pausing Scheduled Runs

There is also an option to temporarily pause scheduled forecasts. Enabling the pause option will prevent a forecast from running until the pause is disabled. Both Editors and Admins have the option to do this on for an individual schedule. Admins also have the option to Pause All Scheduled Runs - this includes those set up by other users.

Paused schedules display with a grey dot, while active schedules display with a blue dot (see image below).