APO DP Distribution Function...Growth pattern

[Former Member]

Hello gurus:

Here is my question:  In APO Demand Planning, I would like to use the Distribution Function to increase my forecast on a Key Figure by a certainly % of growth.  What I mean by this is I want to take the forecast in a KF and increase the forecast month over month by a certain %.  So, if my forecast is 100 each month, I would like to tell it to add 3% in a growth patten which would result in (rounded to the  nearest whole number):

Month 1 = 103

Month 2 = 107

Month3 = 110

Month 4 = 113

Month 5 = 116

Month 6 = 119

Month 7 = 123

Month 8 = 127

Month 9 = 131

Month 10 = 135

Month 11 = 139

Month 12 = 143

Does anyone know how to do this with the Distribution Function so we don't have to calculate this growth in an Excel file and copy/paste it into APO?

Thanks.

Andrea

[jagannadhb · Accepted solution]

Hi Andrea,

You can use the Distribution function as follows:

The value is the percentage value you want to use (here it means 3 %) and Operator %+ adds 3% to your existing value. The following will be your result

For your requirement you need both Distributor Function and a Macro.

A Macro (start) to copy previous Month's Demand Forecast to current Month

You can create your own Distributor function under Demand Planning -> Environment -> Current Setting -> Maintain Distribution Patterns

For further details:

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_apo/helpdata/en/11/5b9139170d2539e10000000a11402f/content.htm

Hope this helps you

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thank you Jagannadha.  I'm going to look into using this as a solution.

[satish_waghmare3]

Hello Andrea

Instead of Distribution function, this can be done by writing a simple macro like below. Run this for next 12 months with interations in macro. If you want make this macro as Directly Executable(also you can assign push button) so that user can execute within the planning book.

Hope this will help

Thank you

Satish Waghmare

[Former Member]

Hello Satish:

Thank you for the reply.  What I would like to do is have a way that all the business users can utilize a distribution of growth.  Some people might want to use a different percentage to apply or they might want to try various ones and see the results.  They also will want to use this for particular date ranges which could be different each time.

The Distribution Function allows users to do many things, but I didn't see a choice for this.

Do you have any ideas if that function can be used without writing code with pop ups for date ranges and percentages and assigning it to a button for users to select?  I was hoping the Distribution function would have this option built into it.

Thanks in advance.

Andrea