Depot Shipments
Turn the forecast's recommended depot shipments into a committed plan that every later forecast builds around.
Overview
Depot Shipments plans how kits move from central depots to local depots. The forecast recommends each shipment: how many kits, from which source lots, the date it must ship by, and when it arrives. As your team decides what it will actually ship, you commit those shipments, and every later forecast keeps them fixed and plans the remaining recommendations around them.
Depot Shipments is available on paid plans.
Where to Find It
| Screen | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Depot Shipments tab in Analytics | The trial's Shipment queue, with a Demand vs. supply chart |
| Depot Shipments in the workspace navigation | The Shipment queue for every trial in the portfolio, with filters by trial and status |
| Depot Shipments in the trial's left navigation | The trial's depot shipment settings, including the replenishment algorithm. It opens settings, not the queue |
How Recommendations Are Made
Each trial uses one replenishment algorithm, chosen in its depot shipment settings:
| Algorithm | How it works |
|---|---|
| Dynamic · Short/Long Window | Ships when available inventory, counting stock in transit, cannot cover demand inside the Short Window, and sizes the shipment from Long Window demand (optionally adding Short Window demand). The Short Window defaults to the lead time plus a 3-day buffer |
| Static · Min/Max | Ships when stock falls to Min and tops up toward Max |
Stock in transit counts toward a depot's position, so a triggered shipment is never ordered twice.
Must ship by is the latest departure that still meets demand at sites after depot and site lead times. It does not move when a source lot is released late.
Shipment Statuses
Every shipment in the queue has one of three statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Recommended | The forecast's current suggestion. It is recalculated whenever the forecast runs |
| Planned | Your team has committed to it, but it has not left the origin depot. It stays editable |
| In Transit | It has left the origin depot. The shipped date and contents are locked; only the arrival date can change |
Planned and In Transit shipments stay fixed across refreshes. There is no Arrived status: the forecast lands an In Transit shipment on its arrival date.
Rows marked From Actuals show stock reported in transit on the Actuals page. They are read-only here and are corrected in Actuals.
Planning a Shipment
- Open the Depot Shipments tab in Analytics, or Depot Shipments in the workspace navigation.
- Find the shipment in the Shipment queue and choose its edit action (Plan shipment on a Recommended shipment). This opens Plan depot shipment.
- Adjust the kit quantities across the source lots the forecast reserved, and the Ship date or ETA at local depot if needed. Origin and destination cannot change.
- Under Shipment status, keep Plan shipment, then choose Save planned shipment.
Saving starts a new forecast run. The queue and the rest of Analytics update when it finishes.
Marking a Shipment In Transit
When a shipment leaves the origin depot, choose its edit action (Plan shipment on a Recommended shipment, Edit planned shipment on a Planned one), select Mark as in transit under Shipment status, and save. A Recommended shipment can go straight to In Transit. Prognosis records the shipped date and locks the shipped lots and quantities. Afterwards, edit the shipment only to update ETA at local depot when delivery timing changes.
If a shipment was marked in transit before it actually left, use Correct to planned.
Returning a Shipment to the Recommendation
To undo a commitment, use the return action on a Planned or In Transit shipment (Return planned shipment to recommendation, or Correct in-transit shipment to recommendation for one marked in transit by mistake). Your saved plan is removed, and the shipment follows the algorithm's recommendation again after the forecast refreshes.
Shipments cannot be added from scratch: every shipment starts as a recommendation.
Refreshing Recommendations
Refresh recommendations on the Shipment queue updates the Recommended shipments from the latest forecast: their dates, quantities and source lots. Planned and In Transit shipments stay exactly as your team left them.
Keeping the Plan Current
- Commit what you will ship. Move shipments your team has decided on to Planned, and to In Transit once they leave. The forecast then plans around real decisions instead of re-deriving them.
- Act on late coverage. A shipment past its Must ship by date, or one whose supply arrives late, puts patient kits at risk. When a shipment's coverage is late, partial or none, its details list Ways to improve coverage: Adjust production lead time, Define a planned lot, or Add an actual lot.
- Keep Actuals current. Record on-hand depot stock in Actuals so the forecast starts from what is really at each depot.