Excel and Power BI for Demand Planning & Forecasting

Descripción

In many organizations, demand planning still faces a few common challenges: • Forecasts are often built in Excel, but lack structure and consistency • Accuracy is measured inconsistently, or not tracked in a meaningful way • Comparing forecast cycles and understanding changes is difficult • Decision-making is often driven by intuition rather than data This course is designed to address these challenges in a practical and structured way. What makes this course different? This is not a theory-heavy course. And it’s not just a collection of Excel formulas either. This is a complete, real-world demand planning workflow. By the end of this course, you will be able to: • Build structured forecasts in Excel • Evaluate forecast performance using real metrics (MAPE, MAE, Bias) • Understand what’s driving forecast errors • Compare different forecast versions and cycles • Create interactive dashboards in Power BI for decision-making You won’t just “learn forecasting” — you’ll learn how to actually do it in a real business environment. What you’ll learn in this course This course is structured to take you from foundations → practical execution → advanced analysis. 1. Demand Planning Fundamentals • What demand planning really is (beyond definitions) • Forecast cycles and governance in real companies • How forecasts are used in business decisions 2. Forecasting Techniques in Excel • Extrapolation and growth-based forecasting • Moving averages (short-term vs long-term) • Time series forecasting (ETS) • Regression-based forecasting (including promotions & pricing impact) 3. Build a Fully Automated Forecasting Model in Excel One of the most powerful parts of this course. You will build a dynamic, automated forecasting model where: • You simply input actual sales data • Select forecasting techniques for different products • The model automatically generates forecasts You’ll learn how to: • Structure models for scalability • Apply different forecasting methods dynamically • Design a system that works across multiple SKUs and time periods This is not just learning formulas — this is building a real forecasting engine. 4. Measuring Forecast Accuracy • Forecast Error • Mean Absolute Error (MAE) • Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) • Weighted MAPE (WAPE) • Bias and why it matters You’ll also learn when each metric should be used—something most courses don’t cover properly. 5. Data Transformation with Power Query • Clean and prepare messy data • Combine multiple files dynamically • Build scalable data models This is where your work becomes automated and repeatable. 6. Power BI Dashboards & DAX for Forecast Analysis You won’t just build dashboards—you’ll understand how they work. You will learn: • How to visualize forecast vs actuals effectively • How to analyze accuracy across products, customers, and time • How to track bias and error patterns And importantly: • Build powerful calculations using DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) • Create dynamic measures for accuracy, comparisons, and insights • Control filter context to design flexible, interactive dashboards DAX is taught in a practical, step-by-step way, so even beginners can follow along. Why this course is practical (and not just theoretical) • Realistic datasets (not overly simplified examples) • Step-by-step walkthroughs of actual workflows • Exercises and solved examples to reinforce learning • Quizzes to test your understanding • Focus on how things work in real companies Who this course is for This course is beginner-friendly, but designed to take you to a job-ready level. It is ideal for: • Aspiring demand planners • Supply chain professionals • Business analysts and data analysts • Finance professionals working with forecasts • Excel users who want to apply their skills in real-world scenarios Teaching style This course is designed to respect your time: • Short, focused lessons • Clear and simple explanations • No unnecessary theory or fluff • Strong focus on practical understanding The end result By the end of this course, you will have: • A complete understanding of how demand planning works • The ability to build and evaluate forecasts independently • Hands-on experience with Excel, Power Query, and Power BI • A practical skillset you can apply immediately in your job If you want to go beyond theory and actually build real forecasting solutions… This course is for you.

Lo que aprenderás

• Build a fully automated demand forecasting model in Excel using real-world supply chain data
• Apply forecasting techniques including moving averages, time series (ETS), and regression models
• Measure and improve forecast accuracy using MAPE, Mean Absolute Error, and Bias
• Create interactive Power BI dashboards to monitor forecast performance across products and time
• Analyze forecast performance and identify drivers of error and bias
• Write DAX measures to calculate accuracy metrics and enable dynamic forecast analysis
• Clean and transform data using Power Query for scalable and automated forecasting workflows

Requisitos

• Basic familiarity with Microsoft Excel formulas