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Work with calculation profiles

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Demand planning in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management lets you build a collection of calculation profiles. Each profile takes one or more existing time series as input, and applies a set of predefined calculations to generate a new time series as output.

Here are some examples of purposes that you might use calculations for:

  • Increase all forecasts by 10 percent.
  • Combine two forecasts, so that the result is the average of the two.
  • Remove outliers from the forecast by removing some values that are completely out of range.

Typically, a manager or system administrator creates the initial collection of required profiles. Forecasters and other users can then run the profiles to generate new calculated time series as they require.

View and run existing calculation profiles

You have to run a calculation profile only as often as you import new data into the relevant tables. Some profiles must be run only occasionally, whereas others must be run almost every time that a user works with the app.

To generate a new calculated time series by running an existing calculation profile, follow these steps.

  1. On the navigation pane, select Operations > Calculations.

  2. Find the profile for the type of calculation that you want to run, and select the link for it in the Name column.

    The details page for the selected profile appears. It contains the following tabs:

    • Summary – This tab provides basic information about the profile. You can edit the name and/or description to make the profile easier to identify and work with.
    • Calculation model – This tab shows the calculation that the profile does. It uses a flowchart of interconnected steps. Each step does a specific type of operation and has settings that let you define how that operation works. For information about how to work with the settings on this tab, see the Create and manage calculation profiles section.
    • Run schedule – This tab lets you set up a schedule for the profile to run automatically. For details about this functionality and how to configure it, see Rolling forecasts.
    • Jobs – This tab shows a list of every run of the profile. It includes date information, the job status, and the time series that was generated. Select a link in the Time Series column to open the time series.

  3. To run the profile, select Run on the Action Pane.

  4. In the dialog box that appears, set the Output option field to one of the following values to define the output of the job:

    • Create a new time series – The job will create a new time series. If you select this value, enter a name for the new series in the Time series name field.
    • Use an existing time series – The job will overwrite an existing series or create a new version of it. If you select this value, use the fields that are provided to select the target series, specify whether you want to overwrite the existing version or create a new version, and, if you want to create a new version, specify the name of the new version.

  5. Select Save and close.

  6. The new job is added to the grid on the Jobs tab. There, you can follow the status of the new calculation. To update the status information, select Refresh on the grid toolbar.

Create and manage calculation profiles

Each time that your organization requires a new type of calculation, a manager or admin must create a new calculation profile. After the profile is created, it becomes available to users, who can run it as often as they require.

To create or edit a calculation profile, follow these steps.

  1. On the navigation pane, select Operations > Calculations.

  2. On the Action Pane, select New.

  3. A setup wizard is opened. On the Get started page, set the following fields:

    • Name – Enter a name for the new profile.
    • Description – Enter a short description of the profile.
    • Owner – Select the user account that owns the profile.
    • Precision – Specify number of decimal places that the profile should show for calculation results and output.
    • Category – Select the category of the output time series (Forecast, Demand, Financials, or Miscellaneous). The category affects the location of the output time series under the Planning data heading on the navigation pane.

  4. Select Next.

  5. On the Select and configure calculation model page, you can select a calculation model preset to use with your current profile. Browse the presets that are listed under Available model presets to preview the calculation that each preset does. You can configure settings and customize the calculation model as you require after you save the profile. Therefore, select the preset that's closest to what you're looking for, and then select Next. For information about how to configure settings and customize the calculation model that a profile uses, and how to create new presets, see Design calculation models.

  6. On the Set run schedule page, you can choose to set up a schedule for the profile to run automatically. For details about this functionality and how to configure it, see Rolling forecasts.

  7. Select Next.

  8. On the Review and finish page, review the summary of settings that you've configured, and then select Review and finish to create the new profile.

  9. Your profile is now saved, but it hasn't yet run. If you're ready to run the calculation now, select Run on the Action Pane.