Create More Accurate Forecasts with Copilot in the Dynamics 365 Demand Planner App
Demand planning has evolved significantly, with organizations needing to modernize the way they manage forecasts and plan for future demand of their products.
In Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, you can now use the Demand Planner app to harness AI-powered forecasting to help save you time while accurately:
- Predict future sales to help you plan products
- Analyze historical data to make informed decisions
- Understand market trends to get ahead of the game
- Coordinate with other departments to ensure enough inventory is available to meet demand.
In this blog, we’ll give you an overview of how Demand Planning has evolved in Dynamics 365 how the new AI-powered Demand Planner app can transform the way you tackle supply and demand challenges, and how to set up and configure the Demand Planner app so it works for your business.
Understanding the Demand Planning Journey in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management So Far
The journey of demand planning in Microsoft Dynamics 365 has been an ongoing evolution. This current iteration of the demand planning functionality we see today builds upon historical capabilities but takes significant leaps forward in automation, machine learning, and collaboration.
Historically, Dynamics 365 had some forecasting capabilities, but they often relied heavily on manual input or Excel-generated forecasts. While these processes allowed businesses to make educated guesses about future demand, they didn’t provide the level of accuracy or efficiency that businesses truly needed. The goal of demand planning is to look at historical demand and translate that into future supply requirements.
That’s where Material Requirements Planning (MRP) comes into play.
MRP: The Starting Point
At the core of traditional demand planning is MRP which helps businesses meet short-term projections based on in-system demand. MRP works well for immediate or short-term planning, but it isn’t designed to handle long-term forecasts effectively. In the past, planners would manually enter long-term forecasts for individual items, a time-consuming and error-prone process.
This process improved with the introduction of AX2012 R3, which introduced a feature called Demand Forecasting. This enabled businesses to automate some forecasting tasks and pull data from SQL Server Analysis Cubes or existing sales data.
It was a step forward, but still not a complete planning solution.
The Shift from Forecasting to Planning
While AX2012 could generate forecasts, it wasn’t able to help planners fine-tune or adjust their predictions easily. This limitation prevented it from becoming a true demand planning tool.
The next leap forward came with Dynamics 365, which built on the capabilities of AX2012 and introduced the first elements of AI and machine learning. However, adoption was slow and there were high costs associated with Azure Machine Learning Services and the need for specialized data scientists to build accurate forecasting models. This made it difficult for many businesses to take full advantage of these new tools.
Enter the New Dynamics 365 Demand Planner App
Microsoft has launched its next-generation D365 Demand Planner App. This new app is a collaborative demand planning solution that utilizes AI, machine learning, and best-in-class forecasting algorithms to deliver a powerful, user-friendly tool for planners.
This new application is designed with agility, collaboration, and intelligence at its core. By combining accurate forecasting models with an immersive user experience, the app enables businesses to build more resilient and sustainable demand planning practices.
Additionally, it is based on the Microsoft Cloud, meaning you can use new features and capabilities when they come out.
Some of the standout features include:
- Collaborative Forecasting: The app integrates with Microsoft Teams to allow planners to communicate in real-time, share insights, and collaborate on forecasts without leaving the app. It also includes in-product commenting and the ability to restore previous versions of forecasts throughout the planning cycle, ensuring transparency and flexibility.
- No-Code Demand Modelling: One of the most exciting features of the new app is its no-code approach to demand planning. Historically, businesses would need to employ data scientists to develop complex forecasting models. Now, over 85% of demand planners—who may not have a deep technical background—can perform “what-if” analyses and optimize various scenarios within minutes, thanks to intuitive building blocks and templates.
- Agility through Integrated Planning: The app provides seamless integration with other parts of the D365 ecosystem, particularly supply chain management. This means planners can execute on their demand forecasts in real-time, making it easier to adjust for unexpected disruptions or shifts in the market. Additionally, the app offers customizable worksheets and exception-based planning to help users focus on critical changes without getting bogged down in every minor fluctuation.
- Real-Time Data Disaggregation and Aggregation: The D365 Demand Planner offers on-the-fly integration and disaggregation of data, allowing businesses to adjust forecasts based on specific business units or geographic locations with ease. This is crucial for large enterprises with complex supply chains that span multiple regions.
The Impact of AI and Machine Learning
One of the most transformative aspects of the new D365 Demand Planner App is the deeper integration of AI and machine learning algorithms. These technologies enable businesses to create forecasts that are not only more accurate but also more adaptable to changing conditions. By analyzing historical sales data, customer behavior, and external market factors, AI can help businesses identify trends and adjust forecasts before problems arise.
With these advanced capabilities, businesses can shift from reactive planning to proactive strategy. Rather than scrambling to meet unexpected demand, they can anticipate changes and have supply chain strategies in place to handle them efficiently.
How to Set Up and Configure the Demand Planner App in Dynamics 365
There are some things you should be aware of when using this new app in your Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management environment.
Licensing Requirements
Before you start using Demand Planner in Dynamics 365, ensure each relevant user has a license for it. Ensure you map out which users in your organization need licenses so you don’t overpay.
Once you purchase the required licenses, an administrator can assign permissions to those relevant users.
How to Install and Enable the Demand Planner App
You can do this two ways, either through the Power Platform admin center or directly in Supply Chain Management. Before doing that, however, ensure that you meet the prerequisites of operating on one of the following versions of Supply Chain Management:
- Supply Chain Management version 10.0.36, build 10.0.1695.83 or later
- Supply Chain Management version 10.0.37, build 10.0.1725.60 or later
- Supply Chain Management version 10.0.38 (any build) or later
Let's take a look at both methods.
Install Using the Power Platform Admin Center
To follow this method, you have to follow these six steps:
- Sign in to the Power Platform admin center.
- Select Resources > Dynamics 365 apps on the left navigation pane.
- Search for and select the app named Dynamics 365 Demand Planning Application.
- Select Install on the top toolbar.
- Select an environment, review the packages that will be installed, and select the I agree to the terms of service checkbox.
- Select Install.
Install Directly in Supply Chain Management
There are eight steps you need to follow to use this method:
- In the Feature Management Workspace, turn on the Demand Planning feature.
- Go to System Administration> Setup > Demand planning app parameters.
- On the General tab, in the Demand Planning app URL field, enter the URL where Demand Planning is installed.
- Go to Master Planning > Setup > Master planning parameters.
- On the Number sequences tab, in the grid, find the row where the Reference field is set to Demand forecast sequence number. Then select the link in the Number sequence column for that row.
- On the details page for the selected number sequence, on the Performance FastTab, set the following field:
- Preallocation – Set this option to Yes.
- Quantity of numbers – Set the value to 500.
- On the Action Pane, select Save.
- You must now refresh the data entity list in Supply Chain Management to ensure that data imports and exports between Supply Chain Management and Demand planning will work correctly. Follow these steps:
- Go to System administration > Workspaces > Data management.
- Select the Framework parameters tile.
- Open the Entity settings tab.
- Select Refresh entity list.
Establish Security Roles and Row-Level Security
Setting users, security roles, and access rules for demand planning is important in creating a map of who can control access to certain features. Similar to the installation of the demand planner app, this process will look a bit different depending on which method you use.
Assigning Security Roles and Access Criteria Using Power Platform
When you install demand planning through the Power Platform, it automatically creates security roles and assigns access to certain features they need to use. These roles include:
- Basic user: Standard security role that all users of the Demand Planner app must have.
- System administrator: Grants access to admin features in Demand planning, including installing the app, adding users, assigning roles, and more.
- Demand planning manager: Users with these roles can configure demand planning and access many other features.
- Demand planning contributor: Contributors can view worksheets, edit data they have access to, and collaborate using Microsoft Teams in-app comments
- Demand planning service role: This is a required role that the app uses for internal operations. It’s a role that should never be assigned to a human user.
Setting up Row-Level Security and Data Access
Those with the Contributor role can only access the data you allow them to. The way you can control this is through row-level security. To set up row-level security, follow these steps:
- Sign into Demand Planning using a system admin account.
- On the navigation pane, select Configuration > Row-level access.
- Do one of the following steps:
- To add a new row-level access rule, select New from the top toolbar. This launches a setup wizard, where each page of the wizard maps to a tab in the edit dialog.
- To edit an existing row-level access rule, select the rule in the list, and then select Edit from the grid toolbar.
- On the Create rule tab or wizard page, make the following settings.
- Name – Enter a name for the rule.
- Description – Enter a description for the rule.
- On the Conditions tab or wizard page, set up the logic for which data tables and columns the rule grants access to. Use the buttons to add or remove conditions as needed. The following logic applies.
- If you have more than one condition line, then the lines are combined with an AND operator, which means that users will only have access to data rows where all of the condition lines are true.
- You can select more than one value in the Value field for each condition. These values are combined with an OR operator, which means that the condition line evaluates to true for data rows where any of the values are true.
- On the Users tab or wizard page, add each user for whom the current row-level access rule applies. If you assign the same user to multiple rules, then the user will have access to data rows that are granted by any of the rules (an OR operator applies across rules).
- On the Activation tab or wizard page, set Activation to Active or Inactive, as needed. Only active rules take effect, but you might set a rule to inactive if you're still working on it or if you want to temporarily disable it without deleting it.
Want More Information On Demand Planning in Dynamics 365?
The D365 Demand Planner App offers a flexible, collaborative, and intelligent solution for businesses of all sizes. Stoneridge Software experts can help you implement this tool into your process so you can plan effectively and make informed decisions going forward.
Reach out to our experts today to learn more.
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