Volume Planner

Volume Planner is the name of the overall tool that aims to ensure the communication between the procurement department and its customers (combined in Rate Groups or specific Business Partner companies). The module for the procurement department is called Volume Planner. The object itself that the procurement department creates and invites customers to provide their feedback on planned volumes is called a Forecast (module – Volume Forecasting). 

This manual is focused on the Volume Planner module.

For this module Org/Company Admin should send a subscription request to the Cargoo administration. After subscription, they can grant only manage right option to their users (for more details on user accesses see User Management, Subscribe Business Modules to Your Users). 

To access the Volume Planner module:

• In the Main Menu, under Rates, click Volume Planner.

On the appeared page you can add new forecast, access and manage forecasts list in card or table view. 

Add New Forecast

In order to add a new forecast

1. Take the step shown in the above Figure.
2. At the right part of the page, click Add New Forecast.

    3. As the Add Forecast page appears, fill in the required/optional details and click Save. 

Forecast Structure

After clicking the Add Forecast button, you are redirected to the Add Forecast page, where you have to fill in the required and optional information, given in Table 1: Forecast Structure and visualized in the Figure below.

Table 1: Forecast Structure

Forecasts List

As you click on the Volume Planner under Rates module you can see the list of all your forecasts in the card view. You can switch them to table view by clicking the table view icon at the upper-right corner of the page.

Access Specific Forecasts

The Forecasts page displays the following features through which you can access specific ones:

• Search
• Filter

Search the Required Forecast  

Search can be done by the forecast description. Search starts working from the first typed character showing the suggested list.

To search for your desired forecast:

1. Take the step, shown here.
2. At the upper-left corner of the page, in the Search field, fill in the forecast description.

Filter Your Forecast

You can alternatively filter your forecast by either of the following categorization:

• Commodity
• Validity

As you fill in both fields, then “Exact Match” checkbox will be activated. If you select the checkbox, you will see the exact match; if you leave it unchecked, you will see all the forecasts matching the commodity and falling within the range of the selected validity period criteria. 

To filter the forecast:

1. Take the step, shown here.
2. At the upper-left corner of the appeared page, next to the Search field, click Filter and set the desired criteria. 

Forecast Status

You can see the forecast status at the right side of each forecast. A forecast acquires the statuses, given in Table 2 below: 

Table 2: Tender Status

Manage Your Forecast

On each forecast card, from left to right, you will find the following clickable icons:  

• Edit – by clicking you will be redirected to the Edit Forecast page, where the steps are the same as described in Add New Forecast . 
• Delete – this action is possible if there are no consumers invited yet. 
• Activate/Deactivate toggle – deactivates or activates the forecast. If the forecast is deactivated, you can edit inactive forecast frame data, export uploaded files, but you can’t upload new files and invite new customers.
• Expand – by clicking, you will see the following tabs:
  1. Data Request
  2. Consumers
  3. Analysis 

Data Request Tab

From this tab you can generate proposal, upload the details for the volume forecast, invite rate groups (or business partners). 

Generate Proposal

This functionality implies auto-generation of ocean freight rows that could be used as a data request upload, based on selected filters. The last selection of filters that was used for last generation of proposal is saved and always visible until the next generate proposal button is clicked.

To generate a proposal 

1. On the desired forecast card click “expand” icon.
2. Under Data Request Tab (default), select the desired filters (see the description of filters in Table 3 below).
3. Click Generate Proposal (the excel file with the proposal will be automatically exported).

Table 3: Generate Proposal Filters

Upload

Through upload you submit your data request in the already exported file with the forecast requirements. 

To upload the file

1. In the expanded view of the desired forecast, under Data Request tab, click Upload.

    2. As the popup window appears, Download Empty Excel Template. 

    3. After filling in your tender details, Drag and Drop your files or Browse.

Invite Rate Groups/Business Partners

Invite Rate Groups or Invite Business Partners based on the forecast type (Rate Group or Business Partner) button is automatically activated only when there is an uploaded data request file and ocean freight tab is not empty. The button is disabled for the inactive forecast. 

To invite rate groups or business partners

1. In the expanded view of the desired tender, under Data Request tab, click Invite Rate Groups or Business Partners. 

    2. In the appeared page, fill in the required data and click Invite.

Invite Rate Groups Flow

Invite Business Partners Flow

There is a difference in the information to be filled in the rate groups invitation and that of business partners, each flow is separately described in Table 4 and Table 5 respectively. 

Table 4: Invite Rate Groups Flow

Table 5: Invite Business Partners Flow

Consumers Tab

This tab displays the consumers’ invitation state with the list of invited parties, their statuses and deadlines.

Only consumers that have manage rights are displayed in the table. From this tab you can access specific consumers by search and filter, as well as update the status and adjust the deadline through Invite All and Close All buttons.  

Access Required Forecasts

The Consumers tab displays the following features through which you can access specific ones:

• Search
• Filter

Search the Required Consumer

Search is done by Rate Group name and code (rate groups forecast type) or Business Partner Company name (BP forecast type) that are not Pending in the forecast. Search starts with the first typed character, displaying the required consumers on the list.

To search for your desired consumers

1. In the expanded view of the forecast, click on the Consumers tab.
2. In the Search field, fill in the rate group name/code or BP Company name.

Filter the Required Consumer

You can alternatively filter your consumer by the following categorization:

• Status (Invited, Submitted, Closed, Not Submitted)
• Business Partner (only Rate group forecast type)
• Submitting Company (only Rate group forecast type)
• Submission Date 
• Deadline Range

To filter the forecast:

1. Take the step, shown on the above Figure.
2. At the upper-left corner of the appeared page, next to the Search field, click Filter.
3. Set the desired criteria and click Apply.

Close All

This button allows to set the status of all Rate Groups/Business Partners to Closed regardless of their current status.

To take this action

1. Click Close All button at the right part of the Consumers tab.
2. Click OK to confirm the action. 

In case you want to close separate rate groups/BP statuses:

• At the right part of each consumer, click on “close” icon.

Invite All

Invite All button allows to invite all consumers by setting up a new deadline. If the deadline is set, the status of the already invited rate groups/business partners will be changed to invited and the deadline for submission will be updated for everyone.   

To take this action

1. Click Invite All button at the right part of the Consumers tab.
2. In the appeared pop-up window, update the deadline and click OK.

In case you want to update separate rate groups/BP statuses:

1. At the right part of each consumer, click “edit” icon.
2. In the pop-up window, update the deadline and click Save.

Rate Groups/Business Partner Statuses

The following consumer related statuses are displayed in the Consumers tab: 

• Invited - the consumer has been invited to provide feedback in the forecast and no process has started yet.
• Not Submitted - the consumer has started the work and uploaded some draft feedback, but hasn’t submitted it yet.
• Submitted - the consumer has submitted their final feedback.
• Closed - the work on the forecast is over either because the deadline has passed, or the procurement department has closed it.

Only Submitted and Not Submitted statuses are automatically set, the rest can be set both automatically and manually.

Analysis Tab

Once the data request file is uploaded in the Data Request tab, the Analysis file becomes available for export in the Analysis tab. Click on it, to export the file.  

To access and export the file:

1. In the expanded view of the forecast, click on Analysis tab
2. Click on the excel file at the left part of the page to export the file. 

At the right part of the Analysis tab, there is an upload button which is enabled only when the export file is available.  It aggregates all submitted feedbacks on planned volumes of all participating in the forecast consumers, so that the procurement department can have an input for upcoming tenders with carriers.

To upload the file

1. In the expanded view of the desired forecast, under Analysis tab, click Upload.

    2. As the popup window appears, Drag and Drop your files or Browse.

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