Table of contents
Forecast plans response allow suppliers (e.g. CMOs and raw material vendors) to communicate with their buyers (e.g. pharmaceutical manufacturer) about quantities and the schedule of products they plan to deliver in the future.
Create and submit forecast plan responses
Perform this task to create and submit new forecast plan response. Additionally, suppliers can begin work on a forecast plan response and save it for completion at a later time.

Perform this task to create and submit new forecast plan response.
- Select a [MPL Network] from the drop-down in the header.
- Select a (e.g. your entire company or a Link to a specific Partner or internal location) in the header.
- Select
Partners must have the correct roles assigned if using the Owner's instance of Multienterprise Information Network Tower.
from the left menu. - Select .
- Select the New
button.
- On the New Forecast Plan Response screen, fill in the following fields:
- field – . A unique identifier assigned to a forecast plan response.
- field – The version number of the forecast plan response.
- field – The type of the forecast plan response.
- forecast plan response is created on. field – The date that the
-
Select the Save
button.
The screen refreshes with the saved forecast plan response in the draft state and with the required sections populated.
-
Select the Edit
button.
- In the Transaction Information section, select Submitted from the drop drown.
- IN the Forecast Plan Response Information section, fill in the following fields:
- field – A unique identifier assigned to a forecast plan response.
- field – The version number of the forecast plan response.
- field – The type of forecast plan response.
- field – The date when the forecast plan response is created.
- field – The scheduled delivery date for the inventory requested by the customer.
- field – The forecast plan response quantity type.
- drop-down – A brief description stating the purpose of the transaction.
- In the Customer and Supplier section, fill in the following fields under Customer group:
type-ahead field – The name of the company or location purchasing the product. This field pulls from the Owner's company and location master data.
The remaining Customer fields are auto populated with the values from the company or location's master data entry. If the name of the company is not present in the Owners master data, the company name must be entered manually.
- field – The address of the particular location.
- field – Any additional address information.
- drop-down – The two-letter country code with country name for this location.
- field – The state or region for this location.
- field – The city for this location.
- field – The postal code for this location's main address.
- field – The company or location's phone number.
- field – The company or location's fax number
- drop-down – The identifier type used for this company or location.
- field – The value associated with the identifier type.
- In the Customer and Supplier section, fill in the following fields under Supplier group:
type-ahead field – The name of the company or location delivering the product. This field pulls from the Owner's company and location master data.
The remaining Supplier fields are auto populated with the values from the company or location's master data entry. If the name of the company is not present in the Owners master data, the company name must be entered manually.
- field – The address of the particular location.
- field – Any additional address information.
- drop-down – The two-letter country code with country name for this location.
- field – The state or region for this location.
- field – The city for this location.
- field – The postal code for this location's main address.
- field – The company or location's phone number.
- field – The company or location's fax number
- drop-down – The identifier type used for this company or location.
- field – The value associated with the identifier type.
- In the Ship to Location and Ship From Location section, in the Ship to Location group fill in the following fields:
The remaining Ship to Location fields in the section are auto populated with the values from the company or location's master data entry. If the company name is not present in the Owners master data, the company's name must be entered manually. type-ahead field – The name of the company location where actual goods will be shipped by supplier. This field pulls from the Owner's company and location master data. - field – The address of the particular location.
- field – Any additional address information.
- drop-down – The two-letter country code with country name for this location.
- field – The state or region for this location.
- field – The city for this location.
- field – The postal code for this location's main address.
- field – The company or location's phone number.
- field – The company or location's fax number
- drop-down – The identifier type used for this company or location.
- field – The value associated with the identifier type.
- In the Ship to Location and Ship From Location section, in the Ship From Location group fill in the following fields:
The remaining Ship From Location fields in the section are auto populated with the values from the company or location's master data entry. If the company name is not present in the Owners master data, the company's name must be entered manually. type-ahead field – The name of the company location where actual goods will be shipped from by the supplier. This field pulls from the Owner's company and location master data. - field – The address of the particular location.
- field – Any additional address information.
- drop-down – The two-letter country code with country name for this location.
- field – The state or region for this location.
- field – The city for this location.
- field – The postal code for this location's main address.
- field – The company or location's phone number.
- field – The company or location's fax number
- drop-down – The identifier type used for this company or location.
- field – The value associated with the identifier type.
- In the Line Items section:
- Select the Add
icon. At least one line item is required to submit a forecast plan response.
- In the New Line Items panel, fill in the following fields under Line Item Information:
- field – The number to identify the line item by (e.g. 50).
The , and fields are auto populated with the values from the Owner's product master data entry for the product. If the product name is not present in the Owner's product master data then the product name must be entered manually. field – The name of the product. If the user enters an item code instead, the field automatically displays the corresponding item name.- drop-down – The product code type (e.g. IN-Product Code).
- field – The product code.
- field – A brief description of the product. If the description is not present in the Owners product master data then the description must be entered manually.
- field – The number of units ordered.
- drop-down – The unit of measure for the order quantity in the line item.
- field - The quantity of open items in the line item.
- drop-down – The unit of measure for the quantity of open items in the line item.
- field - The lot number of the line number.
- field - The expiry date of the line item.
- field - The preferred location for unloading the inventory.
- field – The designated location for inventory consumption.
- field – The unique identifier Plant number for the consumption point location.
- field – The date when the delivery is scheduled.
- field – The date the supplier will reconcile the shipped or promised inventory.
- field – Additional information about the line item being added.
Select
.The new line item is added to the forecast plan response.
- Select a item line row and then select the branch
icon and fill in the following fields under Delivery Information:
- field – The forecast qualifier for the line item.
- drop-down – The duration of the forecast of the Line Item.
- field – The reason for ordering the Line Item.
- field –The unique identifier of the purchase order for the associated line item.
- field – The unique identifier of the delivery number for the associated line item.
- field – The transport description of the Line Item.
- Select
The delivery information is added to line item.
. - Select the line item row drop down to view the delivery information in a table.
- Select a delivery information row and then select the branch
icon and fill in the following fields under Date Information:
- field – The quantity that has been released or shipped for delivery by the supplier.
- drop-down – The unit in which the line item is measured.
- field – The date the goods are issued.
- field – The date when goods are received.
- field – The date when goods are schedule to deliver.
- Select
The schedule information is added to delivery information table.
. - Select the delivery information row drop down to view the schedule information in a table.
- Select the Add
- In the Notes section, enter any additional comments or instructions.
- To submit the forecast plan response:
To save the forecast plan response in a Draft state and finish it later, ensure the button is not selected and then select the Save
button in the draft state.
Select the
button at the top of the screen.The submit status indicator circle is filled in with green to indicate the desired action upon selecting save.
Select the Save
button.
The forecast plan response is submitted.
Tips
-
Select the Add
icon, to add a new line item, where available.
-
Select the Delete
icon, to remove an individual line item, where available.
-
Select the branch
icon, to add a new line item in the inserted table, where available.
- New forecast plan responses can also be created by selecting the New
button on the Forecast Plan Responses Details screen for an existing forecast plan response.

Complete and submit a saved forecast plan response in the draft state.
- Select a [MPL Network] from the drop-down in the header.
- Select a (e.g. your entire company or a Link to a specific Partner or internal location) in the header.
- Select
Partners must have the correct roles assigned if using the Owner's instance of Multienterprise Information Network Tower.
from the left menu. - Select .
- Select the Filter
button to find forecast plan responses in Draft state.
- Select the link in the results table.
-
Select the Edit
button.
- In the Transaction Information section, select Submitted from the drop drown.
- Confirm the forecast plan response details and select the Edit
icon associated with that line item to modify the fields if required.
-
Select the
button at the top of the screen.The submit status indicator circle is filled in with green to indicate the desired action upon selecting save.
-
Select the Save
button.
The forecast plan response is submitted.
Tips
- Select the response number row and then select the Delete
icon on the top of the Search Forecast Plan Response screen, to delete a forecast plan response in draft state.
A deleted transaction cannot be retrieved.
Search and view forecast plan responses

Perform this task to search for and view the details of the forecast plan response sent or received by suppliers or customers. Viewing the details of a forecast plan response enables suppliers or customers to quickly access transaction information (e.g. the quantity for each line item in an order) in TraceLink without having to search through the actual B2B message.
- Select a [MPL Network] from the drop-down in the header.
- Select a (e.g. your entire company or a Link to a specific Partner or internal location) in the header.
- Select
Partners must have the correct roles assigned if using the Owner's instance of Multienterprise Information Network Tower.
or from the left menu. - Select .
- Select the Filter
button.
- In the Filters panel, fill in one or more of the following fields to filter the results:
forecast plan response:
drop-down – The state of the- Draft – The transaction is in the draft state.
- Submit – The transaction has been created.
- Processing – The application is getting ready to handle incoming transactions by doing some initial tasks, such as copying the files it receives.
- Processed – The application changes the standard information into a format that is easy to use and specific to your transaction.
- Preparing to Send – The application is getting ready to send out a transaction and is doing some initial tasks, like copying the necessary information for the process.
- Sending –The application sends out business transactions to the buyer or supplier.
- Sent – The transaction is successfully completed and shared with the receiving party.
- field – A unique identifier assigned to a forecast plan response.
- field – The version number of the forecast plan response.
- field – The type of the forecast plan response.
- Sent Forecast Plan Responses. The name of the company the forecast plan response was sent to.
If the name of the company is not present in the Owners master data then the company's name must be entered manually. type-ahead – Displays only if the menu item is - Received Forecast Plan Responses. The name of the company the forecast plan response was received from.
If the name of the company is not present in the Owner's master data then the company's name must be entered manually. type-ahead – Displays only if the menu item is - forecast plan response was last updated:
- Today – The transaction was modified within the last few hours.
- Yesterday – The transaction was updated within the past 24 hours.
- Last Week – The transaction was modified in the last 7 days.
- Last Month – The transaction was modified in the last 30 days.
- Last 3 Months – The transaction was modified in the last 90 days.
- Last 6 Months – The transaction was modified in the last 180 days.
- Custom Range – Select a specific period of time that the transaction was modified in from the calendar.
field – The period of time in which the
-
Select
.A list of forecast plan responses displays based on the filter results.
-
Select the link for the forecast plan response from the results table.
The View Forecast Plan Responses screen displays.
-
To view all fields for each line item, select the View
icon on the Details screen.
Reprocess and resubmit forecast plan responses

After the forecast plan responses is submitted, the user might encounter an error and the processed status will be set to Paused With Error. Use the following procedure to resolve any error messages encountered while submitting a forecast plan responses.
- Select a [MPL Network] from the drop-down in the header.
- Select a (e.g. your entire company or a Link to a specific Partner or internal location) in the header.
- Select
Partners must have the correct roles assigned if using the Owner's instance of Multienterprise Information Network Tower.
from the left menu. - Select .
- Select the Filter
button to find the forecast plan responses in Processing, Processed, Preparing to Send, or Sending state.
- Select link in the results table.
- View the following fields for error in the Transaction Information section:
- Process Status - Displays the status of the submitted transaction.
- Last Transaction Error - Displays the error message.
- Select the Edit
button..
- In the Transaction Information section, select Submitted from the drop drown.
- Select the Save
button.
The forecast plan responses request is moved from Processing state to Sending state indicating that the forecast plan responses is submitted successfully.
Do not select the button, as it will cause the transaction to skip a workflow state, preventing successful delivery.

If a transaction is successfully sent to a partner but an issue occurs on the partner's side (e.g. in their ERP system), the sender can avoid re-entering all the details by rolling back to a previous workflow state and resending the transaction, thus saving time and effort for both parties.
- Select a [MPL Network] from the drop-down in the header.
- Select a (e.g. your entire company or a Link to a specific Partner or internal location) in the header.
- Select
Partners must have the correct roles assigned if using the Owner's instance of Multienterprise Information Network Tower.
from the left menu. - Select .
- Select a Sent state. in
-
Select the Edit
button.
The state of the forecast plan response is automatically moved to Sending state.
-
Select the
button at the top of the screen.The submit status indicator circle is filled in with green to indicate the desired action upon selecting save.
-
Select the Save
button.
The forecast plan response is submitted.
The statues of the forecast plan response moves to Sent state.