Using the Demand Module
Last updated November 6, 2025
The Demand tab in Flowlity allows you to visualize historical demand and forecasts for your products, and toinput or adjust your own forecasts if needed. In supply chain terms, “demand” can refer to sales of finished products or consumption of raw materials – Flowlity’s Demand module handles both by showing the demand patterns for each SKU (stock-keeping unit) over time.
Navigation & Selection: On the Demand page, you can search for specific products or filter by groups:
- Select by SKU: Use the search bar to find one or multiple products by name or reference. Selecting a product opens its detailed demand view. You can then navigate to the next or previous product in your list using the left/right arrow keys without returning to the list – a quick way to cycle through items
- Select by Tag: Switch to the “by tag” view to see a consolidated demand for a group of products (e.g., a product family or category tag). For example, viewing by a tag will aggregate the demand of all products under that tag into one combined history/forecast curve. You can still drill down into individual SKU details from this view by inspecting the graph or grid for each component SKU. There is also an option to view demand “by customer” (an aggregated view if your demand data is segmented by end-customer or channel).
- Columns and Sorting: The Demand list (SKU list view) can be customized to show various columns. You may add columns related to general info, demand metrics, or inventory to enrich the list (for example, adding a column for “Product Description” or latest stock). Numeric columns can be sorted ascending or descending to identify top/bottom performers (e.g., sort by forecasted demand to see highest-demand items).
Demand Graph & Grid: Once you select a product (or tag), the right side displays a graph overlaid with multiple demand curves and a grid of numerical data per time period. The past data appears as solid lines (actual realized demand), and future projections as dotted lines on the graph. Key elements of the demand view include:
- Firm Demand: Represented typically by a part of the curve or bars for actual orders. Firm demand means any confirmed customer orders or real consumption that the system knows about (imported from your ERP). In the short term, if firm demand exceeds Flowlity’s forecast for an upcoming period, Flowlity will use the higher firm demand value as the effective need (so you don’t under-plan).
- Flowlity Forecast: The AI-generated forecast (displayed as a green line on the graph). This is calculated by Flowlity’s algorithms based on demand history and detected patterns. It is the system’s baseline prediction of future demand each period. Flowlity’s forecast can automatically account for certain factors like trend or seasonality, and it will be influenced by configurations (like whether a product is continuous or intermittent demand type). You can influence the Flowlity forecast by setting up Promotions or Replacement products (product substitutions) – these are configured separately and will adjust the forecast (more details below).
- External Forecast: An optional forecast input (not generated by Flowlity). This field can display a forecast from an external source, for example an MRP system forecast or marketing forecast that you import into Flowlity for reference. It serves as an additional guide and is not used by Flowlity unless you decide to incorporate it. Having this visible helps planners compare the system forecast with an external prediction.
- My Forecast: This is the user-provided forecast input. “My Forecast” can be entered manually or via integration (e.g., uploaded from an Excel or another system) and represents the planner’s own forecast figures for each period. You might use My Forecast if you want to override or adjust the AI forecast for certain periods (for instance, if you have market intelligence about a promotion or event that the AI wouldn’t know). You can input My Forecast at an aggregated level (like monthly or for a product family) and Flowlity will disaggregate it to daily or item level automatically. Depending on configuration, My Forecast can either be just for visualization or can replace the Flowlity forecast in planning calculations. By default, any value in My Forecast will update the Final Forecast (explained next).
- Final Forecast: The final demand forecast that Flowlity actually uses for supply planning (displayed as a purple line on the graph). Initially, Final Forecast equals Flowlity’s forecast, but it will automatically incorporate any overrides: for example, if you enter a higher number in My Forecast for next month, the Final Forecast will be set to that number instead of the AI forecast. Also, on very short term, if there are firm orders exceeding the forecast, Final Forecast will be elevated to match the firm demand (since you obviously need to supply at least what’s ordered). In summary, Final Forecast = max(Firm Demand, either Flowlity Forecast or My Forecast) on each period, ensuring the supply plan is based on the most realistic numbers.
All these fields are visible in the Demand grid per period. The graph provides a visual comparison, and you can hover over points to see exact values. Planners typically review the demand history (past sales) for anomalies – Flowlity provides alerts on unusual patterns (like outliers or periods of zero sales that might indicate stockouts). They then validate or adjust the forecast: for instance, adding a promotion event if marketing plans a sale (which would increase My Forecast for the promotion period), or linking a new product to a similar product’s history so that Flowlity can generate a forecast despite little data (via the Product replacement feature in settings).
Additional Demand Module Features: The Demand tab includes filtering and analysis tools:
- Attributes & Filtering: You can filter products by various attributes (tags, classes, predictability level, demand type category, etc.) to focus on certain segments. For example, filtering by Demand Predictability (a metric Flowlity computes to indicate how predictable or variable a product’s demand is) can help you identify items where you might switch planning strategies. High unpredictability might prompt a planner to manage that item with a Make-to-Order approach or extra safety stock, whereas highly predictable items could be left to the AI forecast comfortably.
- Demand Anomaly Alerts: Flowlity flags potential data issues, such as “Possible outlier” if an unusually large sale occurred (which might not repeat and could skew the model) or “Possible shortage” if a period of zero sales might have been due to lack of stock rather than zero demand. These alerts (also visible in the Planning module) guide you to review and possibly cleanse the history or adjust forecasts.
- Export & Adjustments: You can typically export the demand data or forecast to CSV for offline analysis if needed. Adjusting forecasts (My Forecast entries) directly in the grid is possible if you have the appropriate rights – just click on a forecast cell for a future period and input a new value. Flowlity will recalculate the Final Forecast accordingly.
In summary, the Demand Planning module is where you ensure the demand picture is accurate. By reviewing history, understanding Flowlity’s forecast, and applying any business insight (through My Forecast or promotions), you set a solid foundation for the supply planning step.