Demand profiles

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What this page is for

A demand profile is a reusable seasonality curve: twelve monthly percentages, January through December, that describe how an annual demand quantity is spread across the year. The twelve months must add up to 100% — this is enforced, so you can’t save a profile that doesn’t total exactly 100%. Use a profile to reshape a flat, level forecast into a seasonal one, or to impose a seasonal shape you already know from experience. A profile redistributes an annual total across the months — it does not change the total. Each year’s yearly quantity stays the same; only its month-by-month distribution changes.

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What you set up

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How it works

You enter a percentage for each month. Two helpers make this quick:

• Fill empty months — spreads the remaining percentage evenly across any months you left blank.
• Click a month label — sets that month to “100% minus everything else,” a fast way to make the numbers balance.

The Total readout updates as you type and turns valid only when the twelve months hit exactly 100%.

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Applying a profile

Once saved, you apply a profile to a chosen product and channel, starting from an “Apply from” month. You can use it to reshape either:

• the Baseline forecast, or
• a specific S&OP line (Sales & Operations Planning line). See S&OP lines.

The annual total for the affected period is preserved; the profile simply moves quantity between months according to your percentages.

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Deleting a profile

Deleting a profile keeps the values it has already reshaped — those numbers stay put. It only drops the active-profile link, so future changes won’t be reshaped by that profile.

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Step by step: create and apply a profile

1. Create a new profile and give it a Name (and an optional Description).
2. Enter percentages in the 12-month grid, or use Fill empty months to distribute the remainder.
3. Confirm the Total reads exactly 100%, then save.
4. Choose the product and channel to apply it to, and pick an “Apply from” month.
5. Decide whether it reshapes the Baseline or a specific S&OP line, then apply.

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Example

You sell a patio product that peaks in summer. You build a profile called “Summer peak” and load the warm months: The Total reads 100%, so the profile saves. Applied to an annual quantity of 12,000 units, the flat 1,000-per-month forecast is reshaped so June and July each carry about 2,160 units while January carries about 360 — but the year still totals 12,000.

Tip: Keep launch timing and seasonal shape separate. When a product starts or stops selling in a channel, set its launch or phase-out date on the Channels page; use a demand profile only for the shape of demand across the year. See also New products and S&OP lines.