The Forecast Demand Chart will load when you first open a forecast. The chart will automatically reload when you expand the Set Demand panel on the right side of the forecast.

You can also manually select the Demand Chart by clicking the toggle above the charts:

Let's take a closer look at the Demand Chart: 

The chart features the following series of data: 

Actuals (green line)

The history of demand is represented by the 'Actuals' series. By default a single warehouse for the forecast is selected, so the actual demand will relate to the sales orders and assembly consumption for this warehouse only.

See Configuring History in the Set Demand Panel to configure the actual for multiple warehouses. 

Seasonal Trend (dashed red line)

The seasonal trend line calculates a forecast based on the linear trend line with additional consideration given to the seasonal variability of each month in comparison to the linear trend.

For example, if a particular month has recorded actual demand above the linear trend line, then the seasonal trend will forecast demand to be above the linear trend. 

Consider changing the size of the history in the Set Demand panel, which will affect the Seasonal Trend calculation.

Linear Trend (grey line)

The linear trend is a straight line trajectory of your actual demand, forecast forward into the future. 

Consider changing the size of the history in the Set Demand panel, which will affect the Linear Trend calculation.

Forecast (blue line)

The forecast line plots what your expected demand is per month. This sets the rate of demand in the Supply chart to calculate when replenishments are required to be placed. 

The Forecast is read-only for historic months, allowing you to compare forecast accuracy to the actual result. 

The forecast can be snapped to either the linear trend, seasonal trend, or a year-on-year growth using the 'Fill Forecast' option in the Set Demand Panel. 

Adjustments can be made by dragging each point in the series. 

You can also set a forecast by entering numbers into the Forecast Table below the chart.

If the forecast open is for a component product that has Production Demand enabled, the Forecast series will be named 'Sales Forecast' to highlight that you can add additional demand to the production demand for components you may sell separately. 

Production Demand (grey bars) - not pictured

Production Demand is calculated when you forecast an assembled item and enable the option to link component demand in the Plan Production panel. Production demand per month will then be calculated and displayed as grey bars. 

Production demand will also be shown in the Supply chart as specific draw downs in stock of where production jobs are forecast to need to start. 

Export

If you would like to incorporate the Demand chart into a presentation or document, you can export it to .SVG or .PNG. 

You are also able to export to a PDF document. 

If you wish to perform your own analysis in a spreadsheet, you can export all the series data points to a CSV file.