Purchase Demand and Purchase Plans: from forecast to purchase order

Demand Forecast, Purchase Demand, and Purchase Plans work together to help buyers move from expected product consumption to reviewed purchase orders.

The flow separates prediction from purchasing decisions. Versa estimates likely future demand, combines it with current operational demand and supply, then gives the buyer a workspace to decide what to buy. A purchase order is created only after the buyer reviews and locks the applicable plan lines.

Why use this workflow?

Purchasing decisions often require information from several areas of the business. Buyers need to understand likely future consumption, sales and production requirements, inventory, open purchase orders, suppliers, lead times, quantities, and dates.

This workflow brings those steps together while keeping each decision clear:

Demand Forecast estimates likely future consumption.
Purchase Demand determines what may still need to be purchased after current demand, inventory, and supply are considered.
Purchase Plans record the buyer's intended quantities, suppliers, and dates.
Purchase Orders are created only from selected, locked plan lines.

The complete flow at a glance

This diagram shows the buyer's end-to-end workflow. Blue steps are prepared by Versa. Orange steps require the buyer to review or decide. Green steps show the purchasing result.

1. Versa prepares Demand Forecast
Estimates future product consumption from available history.

2. Buyer reviews Demand Forecast
Check forecast periods, confidence, and the quantity used by Purchase Demand. Refresh when needed.

3. Versa prepares Purchase Demand
Combines eligible forecast with committed demand, inventory, open purchase orders, lead times, and supplier information.

4. Buyer selects demand in Planning Mode
Choose the demand rows to plan and enter the quantity to add.

5. Buyer builds and reviews a draft Purchase Plan
Adjust supplier, planned quantity, planned order date, expected receipt date, planning window, and notes. Review demand sources before locking.

6. Buyer locks ready plan lines
Lock only the lines that represent current buying intent.

7. Versa creates Purchase Orders
Select locked lines and click Create POs From Selected. Versa immediately creates normal purchase orders and groups compatible lines together.

8. Buyer completes purchasing and monitors progress
Review the purchase orders, send them to suppliers, receive goods, and use Plan vs PO to track quantities and receipts.

If demand changes: review the affected plan line, then keep the current plan, unlock and revise it, or skip the quantity that has not been ordered. This returns the buyer to the planning step without changing an existing purchase order automatically.

Who can use this workflow?

Your company must have Ops Agents enabled for the Demand Forecast and Purchase Demand steps.
Demand Forecast must be configured for the selected entity before its menu item appears.
Users who view Demand Forecast or Purchase Demand need access to Purchasing, Reports, or the applicable Inventory Control permission.
Refreshing Demand Forecast or Purchase Demand requires Purchasing or Inventory Control Full Access.
Creating and managing Purchase Plans requires the View P/O Planner permission.
You must select the correct company and entity before beginning.

If a menu item or control is missing, ask your administrator to review the company features and your user permissions.

Where to find each step

Demand Forecast: select your entity, then go to Ops Engine > Insights > Demand Forecast.
Purchase Demand: go to Ops Engine > Insights > Purchase Demand.
Purchase Plans: go to Ops Engine > Planning > Purchase Plans.

Step 1: Review Demand Forecast

Demand Forecast estimates future product consumption from Product Consumption history. It helps identify likely needs that may not yet appear on a sales order, build, or work order.

The forecast uses registered calculation methods and available history. It does not create a Purchase Plan or purchase order, and it does not decide what the buyer should purchase.

Open Ops Engine > Insights > Demand Forecast.
Select the latest completed Run.
Review the forecast period and confidence filters.
Start with High and Medium confidence rows.
Use Refresh Forecast when you have permission and need a new run.

Demand Forecast normally refreshes on its configured schedule. Use a manual refresh when important history has changed or when you need a current run before a purchasing review.

Understand the forecast quantities

Forecast demand: total expected consumption for the period.
Already committed demand: matching known demand that is already represented by sales, production, or other operational records.
Uncommitted forecast demand: forecast remaining after matching committed demand is removed.
Forecast used by Purchase Demand: the remaining eligible forecast after confidence and minimum-quantity rules are applied.

This separation helps prevent the same need from being counted once as forecast demand and again as a committed sales or production requirement.

Step 2: Review Purchase Demand

Purchase Demand converts business needs into purchasing recommendations. It combines eligible forecast demand with current committed demand and evaluates available inventory, open purchase orders, facilities, suppliers, lead times, and other supported purchasing information.

Open Ops Engine > Insights > Purchase Demand.
Select the latest completed Run.
If needed, click Refresh Purchase Demand.
Use the Needed By filter to focus on the buying period you are reviewing.
Use Group by and Then by to organize rows by part, supplier, needed-by date, build or work order, or facility.
Turn on Supplier Summary to review estimated value, supplier minimums, and available credit information where present.

Purchase Demand refreshes in the background. If the selected run shows an in-progress status, wait for it to finish and reload the page.

Refresh Demand Forecast first when you want Purchase Demand to use newly calculated forecast information. Purchase Demand can still show committed and other supported demand when no forecast is available.

Understand the main Purchase Demand fields

Part: the item that may need to be purchased.
Facility: where the demand applies.
Supplier: the suggested planning supplier, when one is available.
Buy Qty: the recommended quantity still requiring purchase coverage.
Needed By: when the material is needed.
Order By: the suggested order date based on the need date and available lead-time information.
Est. PO Value: the estimated purchase value when valid price and unit information are available.

Expand a quantity or source detail to understand why the recommendation exists. The source may include sales demand, builds, work orders, forecast demand, or another supported purchasing need.

What the buyer can adjust during review

Purchase Demand is a calculated recommendation. The buyer does not directly change its calculated demand, inventory, supplier, or date values. Instead, the buyer can adjust how the recommendations are reviewed:

Run: compare the latest completed calculation with an earlier completed run.
Needed By: narrow the review to the buying period that matters for the current planning meeting.
Group by and Then by: reorganize the recommendations by part, supplier, needed-by date, build or work order, or facility.
Supplier Summary: show supplier-level estimated value, minimums, and available credit information where present.
Refresh Purchase Demand: request a new calculation after relevant demand, inventory, purchasing, or supplier information has changed.

When the buyer is ready to make a purchasing decision, open Planning Mode. The buyer can change Qty To Add before placing selected demand into a draft Purchase Plan. This preserves the original recommendation while recording the buyer's decision separately.

Step 3: Select demand in Planning Mode

Planning Mode turns the Purchase Demand review into a selection workspace. It organizes demand by Needed By date so the buyer can choose the demand and quantity to carry forward.

From Purchase Demand, click Planning Mode.
Select individual demand rows, or use Select all for a needed-by group.
Review Qty To Add for every selected row.
Choose an existing draft plan or enter a name for a new plan.
Click Add selected to plan.

You may plan less than, equal to, or more than the recommended quantity. This is a buyer decision. The selected amount is recorded separately from the original recommendation.

Step 4: Review the draft Purchase Plan

A Purchase Plan is a buyer-owned workspace. It is not yet a purchase order. Keep the plan in draft while quantities, suppliers, and dates are still being reviewed.

Open Ops Engine > Planning > Purchase Plans, then open the plan. Review:

The planning start and end dates.
Part, facility, quantity, and unit.
Supplier and estimated value.
Planned order date and expected receipt date.
Demand sources behind each line.
Supplier totals and available credit information where present.

Adjust the buyer's plan

Changes made here affect the Purchase Plan, not the original Purchase Demand recommendation. While the plan is in draft, the buyer can adjust:

Planning start and end dates for the plan.
Supplier for each planned line.
Planned quantity, including a quantity that differs from the recommendation.
Planned order date and expected receipt date.
Buyer notes that explain the decision or record follow-up information.
Split a quantity when it should be purchased from different suppliers or on different dates.
Remove a line from the plan without changing the original Purchase Demand record.
Show sources to review the demand covered by the line.

A line marked Supplier needed must be assigned a supplier before it can create a purchase order. Missing unit, product, facility, or conversion information may also prevent PO creation.

Step 5: Lock the buying decision

Locking a plan line confirms that it represents current buying intent. Lock only lines that are ready to proceed.

Confirm the quantity, supplier, planned order date, and expected receipt date.
Lock individual lines, or click Lock All Draft Lines when the full plan is ready.
Review any supplier, value, or demand-change warnings before creating purchase orders.

If a locked plan needs changes before purchase order activity begins, use Unlock Plan, revise the draft, and review it again.

Step 6: Create purchase orders

Open the Purchase Plan.
Select the locked lines you are ready to order.
Click Create POs From Selected.
Review the confirmation and open the resulting purchase order links.

Versa creates normal purchase orders immediately. It groups compatible lines using the supplier and planning details. Separate purchase orders may be created when suppliers, facilities, currencies, or planned order dates differ.

The purchase orders use the normal Versa purchasing workflow after creation. Review and edit them as needed, then send them to suppliers and receive the goods according to your company's existing process.

Step 7: Monitor Plan vs PO and receipts

After purchase orders are created, the Purchase Plan shows links to the related POs and a Plan vs PO comparison. This section currently focuses on quantities and receipts. It shows the planned quantity, original and current PO quantities, the difference, quantity received, quantity still to order, current unit cost, and current PO value.

Differences can appear when:

A PO quantity is changed.
The current PO quantity is less than or greater than the planned quantity.
Only part of the planned quantity has been received.

Plan vs PO does not currently compare supplier changes or automatically classify a cancelled PO line. The Purchase Plan does not automatically reverse changes made to a purchase order.

When demand changes after planning

Sales, production, inventory, forecast, and purchase activity can change after a plan is created. A plan line may show Demand changed when the latest Purchase Demand run no longer matches the demand used to create the line.

Open the review and choose the response that matches the buyer's decision:

Keep: leave the plan line unchanged and record that the change was reviewed.
Unlock and revise: reopen the line so the quantity, supplier, or dates can be changed.
Skip un-ordered qty: remove only the quantity that has not already been placed on a purchase order.

This review never changes an existing purchase order automatically.

What Versa automates and what the buyer controls

Versa calculates Demand Forecast quantities from available Product Consumption history.
Versa combines eligible forecast demand with operational demand and supply in Purchase Demand.
Versa recommends quantities, dates, and suppliers when enough information is available.
The buyer decides which rows and quantities become Purchase Plan lines.
The buyer reviews and locks purchasing intent.
A purchase order is created only when an authorized user selects locked lines and starts PO creation.

Supplier credit and cashflow

The Purchase Plan supplier summary can show planned amount, PO-created amount, remaining planned amount, and supplier credit information where available.

Remaining amounts on fully locked Purchase Plans may also appear in Cashflow Projection as planned PO outflow when the lines have suppliers and usable estimated values. After a purchase order is created, the created amount is treated as a PO commitment. Any qualifying quantity that remains to be ordered can continue to appear as planned PO outflow.

If you do not see data or cannot continue

Demand Forecast is missing: Confirm that the correct entity is selected, Demand Forecast is configured, and your company and user have the required Ops Engine and business-area access.
No forecast rows appear: Select a different run or period, clear filters, include insufficient-history rows, or ask an authorized user to refresh the forecast.
Purchase Demand is empty: Select another run, clear the Needed By filter, or ask an authorized user to refresh Purchase Demand.
Demand cannot be added to a Purchase Plan: Ask your administrator to confirm that you have View P/O Planner access. Select at least one row and enter a quantity greater than zero.
A PO cannot be created: Confirm that the line is locked, has a supplier, facility, product, unit, and quantity remaining to order.
Estimated value is blank: Check the supplier price, purchasing unit, and unit conversion. Versa leaves the value blank when it cannot calculate a reliable estimate.

Tips for a smoother purchasing review

Refresh Demand Forecast before Purchase Demand when new forecast history should be included.
Use Needed By filters to limit the review to the period your team is ready to plan.
Review demand sources before changing a recommended quantity.
Use clear plan names based on the buying cycle, facility, project, or date range.
Keep lines in draft until supplier, quantity, and date decisions are settled.
Lock only the lines that represent current buying intent.
Review Demand changed labels before creating additional purchase orders.

Purchase Demand and Purchase Plans