Service revenue and spare parts demand forecasting
Key Takeaway
Service revenue and spare parts demand forecasts use Advanced Account Forecasting with a custom forecast fact object, custom Data Processing Engine definitions, and custom flows, because the prebuilt sales objects and templates don't work for service.
Agentforce Manufacturing can use Advanced Account Forecasting to forecast service revenue and spare parts demand, not just sales demand. For service, you build your own forecast fact object, Data Processing Engine definitions, and flows. You then connect them through a forecast set, which holds the settings for one business objective.
Why service forecasts need custom parts
Advanced Account Forecasting, available in Lightning Experience on Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer Editions, can produce forecasts for service revenue and spare parts demand.
Advanced Account Forecasting comes with default Advanced Account Forecast Fact objects and DPE templates. Those defaults are built for sales use cases, so they don't work with service use cases. A service forecast needs custom parts built for the business need. You build three of them:
| Part you build | Role |
|---|---|
| Custom forecast fact object | Stores the forecast results |
| Custom DPE definitions | Calculate the forecast results, through DPE templates and jobs |
| Custom flows | Run the DPE definitions to generate the forecasts |
A service forecast that groups its values by dimensions, such as product and location, still needs all three custom parts, because grouping doesn't change that it is a service forecast.
With a custom forecast fact object, you can calculate forecasts for accounts with Apex triggers instead of the CalculateAdvancedForecast invocable action in a flow.