Demand must be captured and then managed so that supply can be scheduled. At the top of the MAX Order Number Model we find Forecast Orders and Customer Orders, which in theory, represent this demand on the organization far enough out to cover the cumulative lead-time. Unless you operate in a strict Engineer to Order (ETO) environment, you have both elements of this demand and the combined effect of this demand in a period must be managed.

In this session, we will review a standard model for visualizing the relationship between customer orders and forecasts, over the time horizon, so that the system is scheduled properly.