Auto-Generate Purchase Order by Forecast

The "By Forecast" feature enables the system to predict the required quantity for each SKU based on factors such as seasonality, business trends, and SKU popularity, and then generates a draft purchase order for your review.

Things to know:

• The ability to auto-generate purchase orders is governed by the "Manage Purchase Orders" access control setting.
• The visibility of the "By Forecast" option is controlled by a hidden setting that can only be enabled by the MyTime team. To enable this hidden setting, please contact our Support Team at support@mytime.com.
• When selecting the "By Forecast" option:
  • The system suggests a default forecast start date (current date) and end date.
  • You can adjust these dates, but the start date must be on or before the end date. If not, the "Auto Generate" button will be disabled.
    
• Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) Logic:
  • If the forecasted quantity is below the MOQ, the system rounds up to meet the MOQ.
  • If the forecasted quantity exceeds the MOQ, the system uses the forecasted quantity as-is.
    
• Inventory Forecast Chart: Each forecasted SKU includes a chart icon next to the item. Clicking this icon opens a Forecast Data Chart in a modal window. Here’s what you’ll find:
  • Chart Data Breakdown
    • Training Data (Blue): Historical usage used to train the forecasting model.
    • Forecast Data (Orange): Predicted demand for the selected date range.

  • Chart Features

    • Supports zooming and panning for deeper analysis.

    • Offers views by day, week, or month for flexible time-based exploration.

    • Automatically skips over missing data, connecting valid points smoothly.

      Includes a product dropdown menu to switch between SKUs for comparison.

  • Only forecasted products display a chart icon and corresponding data.

  • Manually added items (those not part of the forecast) will not display charts to keep the interface clean and focused on data-driven insights.

• For each item in the draft PO, the following data is shown:
  • Quantity on Hand: Current stock level in your retail inventory.
  • Max: Desired maximum inventory level, used to calculate how much to reorder.

To auto-generate a purchase order by forecast:

1. Navigate to POS > Inventory
2. Select Purchase Orders from the left panel 
3. Click Create Purchase Order button in the upper right corner
4. Choose a supplier from the Vendor list then select "Next"
5. Add products to your purchase order using the "Auto Generate" button 
6. Select the option to auto-generate purchase order items based on forecast
7. Select a start date and an end date
8. Click on the "Auto Generate " button 
9. Next to each generated product is a chart icon. Clicking this icon opens the Forecasted Data Chart in a modal window, which visually displays both the historical usage and forecasted demand for that SKU.

   
   

10. The generated products will also be displayed with their quantity on hand, maximum quantity, cost, ordered quantity, and subtotal.
11. Once the products generated are acceptable, click the 'Submit Purchase Order' button at the top right-hand corner
12. The purchase order will be created and display the full information of the order 

If you have any questions, please contact our Support Team at support@mytime.com. 

Related Articles:

• Creating Purchase Orders
• Auto Generate Purchase Order by Max Quantity
• Exporting Purchase Order
• Email / Print / Export Purchase Orders to Vendor
• Importing Purchase Orders via CSV File (Ingest Data)
• Receiving / Checking In Purchase Orders