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 

Uploading data into ForecastRx can be a seamless process with our CSV uploader under the Bulk Management dropdown. You can easily import any CSV or Excel sheet. The column headers in your file do not have to match ForecastRx headers and you do not need to modify your file if it contains additional columns of data. 

Learn more about our CSV Importer

Step 1: (optional) - Uploading Suppliers

To upload suppliers, start by downloading the supplier template from the Bulk Management dropdown. Once you’ve downloaded the template, enter your supplier information, or have a file ready with the necessary information. Upload your file by selecting Bulk Management > Upload Data > Create New Entries and then follow the steps on the screen to map the correct column headers and import the data.

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 Bulk Management on the Items page, and enter the relevant data described. The only information needed is the Item Name, but it is recommended to also upload On Hand Qty, Supplier, Supplier Price, Description, MOQ, and Case Pack if applicable.

Note: you can only associate items with suppliers 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 (Optional)- 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 (Optional)- 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 (Optional)- We recommend using ascending numbers for Row Key i.e. “1” “2” “3”
• Ref Num (Optional)- 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, if not, enter the exact date of sale in the format: MM/DD/YYYY.
• Item Key (Optional)- The Item Key the demand corresponds with.
• Item Name - The Item Name the demand corresponds with, exactly as it is entered in the Items section.

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. If the sale is not an open sales order/backorder, enter 0 in this column. 

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 identifier.
• Order Key (Optional)- The PO number associated with the order.
• Row Key (Optional)- Ascending numbers for each line item on a PO.
• Supplier Key (Optional)- Key for the vendor you’re purchasing from (must have been created in the Supplier section first).
• Supplier Name (Optional)- Name for the vendor you’re purchasing from (must have been created in the Supplier section first). If the Supplier is not entered, the PO quantity will still be attributed to the correct item.

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 - The date you expect to receive the purchase order.
• PO Date - The date the PO was issued.
• Item Key (Optional)- Item Key for the item being purchased.
• Item Name - Item Name for the item being purchased, as it appears in the Items section. 

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 - The total quantity of the item being purchased.
• Open Qty - The quantity of the item that has not been received yet. If this is a new PO, Order Qty and Open Qty will be the same. 

After uploading each CSV file, 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 following month, or before you create a purchase order. 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. 

Uploading Demand:

Upload by navigating to Manage Company > Demand > Bulk Management > Upload Data > Create New Entries. Upload the Item Name, Sales Order Qty, Open Sales Order Qty, and Date of Sale for each sale that occurred since your last Demand upload. 

Updating On Hand Qty:

Upload by navigating to Manage Company > Items > Bulk Management > Upload Data > Update Existing Entries. Your file must contain the Item Name and On Hand Qty to modify this information. Any quantity you upload will override the previous entry and only items in your upload will be updated. For example, if you do not include Item B on your upload file, the data for Item B will remain unchanged. 

Updating Supply:

To add new purchase orders, upload a file by navigating to Manage Company > Supply > Bulk Management > Upload Data > Create New Entries. Follow the same steps above in Uploading Supply to add new purchase order information. 

To update existing purchase orders for quantity changes or updating receive dates, navigate to Manage Company > Supply, then update information manually in the grid or perform changes in bulk by selecting Bulk Management > Download Data, update the data in the downloaded file, save, and select Bulk Management > Upload Data > Update Existing Entries. If you are updating items that have been partially received, modify the Open Qty to reflect the correct quantity for how many units have not been received yet. If you are updating a fully received item, modify the Open Qty to 0, or in the Supply grid, delete the data for this row. 

 

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