If you use the Requisition Planning app in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can combine it with the graphical inventory profile to see what your planning suggestions actually do to your stock levels before you commit to them.
The graphical inventory profile lets you compare three scenarios for the same item: your current inventory without any action, your inventory if you sell everything the forecast predicts, and your inventory once you add the suggested order quantity. This helps you decide how much to actually order when you do not fully trust an optimistic sales forecast.
You can also adjust the suggested order quantity down and immediately view the consequence on your end inventory, so you make the call based on your own gut feeling rather than blindly following the system’s suggestion.
Combining requisition planning with the graphical inventory profile
The Requisition Planning app is a tool that simplifies planning in Business Central. On top of it, you can use the graphical inventory profile to explain a planning line and see the consequences before you carry it out.
The example here is a city bike. After running requisition planning, the system shows a suggested quantity to order on the planning line. From the requisition planning journal, you can launch the graphical inventory profile directly for that line.
Seeing the inventory without any action
Start by viewing the profile including the forecast but excluding the requisition planning line. This shows what your inventory will look like if you do nothing.
If you sell nothing from the forecast, the end inventory is 6. If you sell everything the salesperson expects, the end inventory drops to minus 268. That gives you a clear picture of the risk before you decide on an order.
Adjusting the order quantity to match your judgement
The system may suggest a higher quantity than you want. In this case, the salesperson seems very positive, so the suggested quantity has been written down to a level that feels more realistic.
Once you load the adjusted quantity to order, you can view the inventory profile including the requisition planning line and see the consequences of that specific line.
With the adjusted quantity, the end inventory is 186. Including the forecast, it lands at minus 88. So even with the order in place, you still go negative if the full forecast comes true. But that reflects your own judgement about how realistic the forecast is.
This is a practical way to explain and validate a requisition planning line before you carry it out, rather than ordering blindly on the system’s suggestion or the salesperson’s optimism.
Q&A
What does the graphical inventory profile do in Business Central?
It shows your projected inventory over time and lets you compare scenarios: your current inventory with no action, your inventory if the full forecast sells, and your inventory once you add a suggested order quantity. This helps you understand the consequences of a planning line before you act on it.
Can I see the effect of a requisition planning line before carrying it out?
Yes. From the requisition planning journal you can run the graphical inventory profile for a specific line. You can view the profile with or without the planning line included, so you see exactly what the suggested order does to your end inventory.
What if I don’t trust an optimistic sales forecast?
You can write the suggested order quantity down to a level you consider realistic, load that quantity, and then view the inventory profile to see the consequence. This lets you base your order on your own judgement rather than the forecast alone.