Getting Started with .CSV

 

In ForecastRx, users have the option of uploading their company data completely via CSV instead of integrating their Amazon Seller Central account or QuickBooks file. This allows for data from a wide variety of sources to be imported, and it can allow for more control as to what data exists in the platform, but at the expense of automatic nightly syncs. This article will show you how to create a CSV company and how to upload data for it.

 

Creating a CSV Company

Step 1: After registering a username, log-in to ForecastRx and select Other Data Source from the Add a Company pop-up window.

Step 2: Enter your company’s name and click Continue

 

Step 3: Configure your company’s default lead time, order interval, and service level (which can also be adjusted at any time after the initial forecast). You can also add additional users in this step. 

*Note: This information can be changed at any later time under Manage Company. 

 

Uploading Your Data 

Step 1: (optional) - Uploading Suppliers

 To upload suppliers, start by downloading the supplier template. Once you’ve downloaded the template, enter your supplier information. 

 

 

Step 2: Uploading Items

After (optionally) uploading suppliers, you will move on to uploading Items. This will be accomplished in a similar way as uploading Suppliers. Download the template from the Bulk Management in the Items page, and enter the relevant data described.

Note: you can only associate items with suppliers that were already created in the Supplier section. If you try to upload the Items CSV with suppliers that have not previously been created, you will get an error.

 

 

Step 3: Uploading Kits (Optional)

After uploading Items, you will be able to upload kits in the Kit Builder section. An item must be created in the Items section before attempting to add it to a kit or else you will receive an error. 

• Parent Name - The SKU (Item Name) of the Kit
• Component Name - The SKU (Item Name) of a component item in the kit. There can be multiple Components associated with a Parent Item. To do this, use the same “Parent Name” and a different “Component Name”
• Kit Qty - The amount of the component item included in one kit

Step 4: Uploading Demand

After uploading Items, you will be able to upload their sales histories in the Demand section. An item must be created in the Items section before attempting to upload its demand or else you will get an error. The best way to upload demand is by pulling a transaction history report from your data source or a monthly sales summary by item. In either case, you want to have as much sales history as possible, up to 4 years, in order to get the best forecast results.

For guidance on what to input for each column, see below:

• Doc Type - We recommend using either Invoice or Sales Order depending on the type of demand it is. For sales that have happened, use Invoice; for future demand, use Sales Order.
• Order Key - We recommend using the month and year of the data for this column. For example, a sale from August 2016 should have the Order Key “0816”
• Row Key - We recommend using ascending numbers for Row Key i.e. “1” “2” “3”
• Ref Num - We recommend using the same value for Ref Num as you used for Order Key
• Date of Sale - If you have already aggregated monthly sales data for each item into one line, we recommend using the 15th of the month the sales took place.
• Item Key - Item Key the demand corresponds with
• Item Name - Item Name the demand corresponds with

Note: you can use only Item Key, only Item Name, or both. If you decide to only use one of the fields, we recommend deleting the other column before uploading.

• Sales Order Qty - The quantity sold during that transaction or month
• Open Sales Order Qty - The quantity on backorder or on a sales order that hasn’t been fulfilled yet

 

Step 5: (Optional) - Uploading Supply

If you have outstanding purchase orders, uploading them in the supply section will allow ForecastRx to take them into account when giving purchasing recommendations. This prevents accidental double ordering.

After downloading the template, see below for recommendations on how to complete it:

• PO Num - Purchase Order
• Order Key - The PO number associated with the order
• Row Key - Ascending numbers for each line item on a PO.
• Supplier Key - Key for the vendor you’re purchasing from (must have been created in the Supplier section first)
• Supplier Name - Name for the vendor you’re purchasing from (must have been created in the Supplier section first)

Note: you can use only Supplier Key, only Supplier Name, or both. If you decide to only use one of the fields, we recommend deleting the other column before uploading.

• Receive Date - Date you expect to receive the purchase order
• Item Key - Item Key for the item being purchased
• Item Name - Item Name for the item being purchased

Note: you can use only Item Key, only Item Name, or both. If you decide to only use one of the fields, we recommend deleting the other column before uploading.

• Order Qty - Quantity of the item being purchased
• Open Qty - Quantity of the item that has not been received yet

 

After uploading each of these CSV files, click the arrow in the top right corner to run your first forecast and view the results. You can always go back and adjust company, vendor, and item-level parameters, just be sure to run a forecast after making changes.

 

Ongoing maintenance of CSV companies:

We recommend uploading Demand for the previous month on the first day of the next month. We recommend updating On-hand quantities in Items and on-PO quantities in Supply before each purchasing session in order to get the most accurate results.

 

Still have questions? Contact support at any time for a free private consulting session @ support@forecastrx.com