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Manufacturers want fast answers on their volumes. Carriers need to protect capacity and contract terms. This article maps the path from forecast to booking and the conditions for confirming automatically.

Written for: Commercial directors and trade management at carriers with OEM contracts

Contents
  1. The path from forecast to booking
  2. Conditions for confirming without a person
  3. What the manufacturer should see
  4. Why this capability matters

A manufacturer's logistics lead sends a production forecast and waits. Two days later a confirmation arrives, or a question, or nothing. On the carrier side, someone has matched the forecast against the contract by hand and checked the voyage.

Both sides want the same thing: a fast answer they can rely on. The way to get there is to agree which requests can be confirmed under fixed rules, and which need a person.

The path from forecast to booking

From forecast to booking

1
Forecast receivedEDI, API or uploaded file
2
Matched against the contractVolume, period, cargo types and lanes against allocation
3
Checked against the voyageSpace of the right kind on the planned sailing
All confirmation conditions met?
YesConfirmed under agreed rulesWithin allocation, space available, cargo data complete, no open issue
NoRouted to the commercial teamWith the reason: beyond allocation, no space, data missing
4
Booked and trackedBooking carries the contract reference; allocation use stays current
IllustrativeConfirmation without a person only happens when every agreed condition is met. Everything else is routed, not rejected.

1. Forecast received. By EDI from larger manufacturers, or as an uploaded file from smaller ones. See EDI, API or upload? for the choice of channel.

2. Matched against the contract. Volume, period, cargo types and lanes are compared with the agreed allocation.

3. Checked against the voyage. Is there space of the right kind on the planned sailing?

4. Confirmed or routed. Requests within allocation, with space available and complete cargo data, can be confirmed under agreed rules. Everything else goes to the commercial team.

5. Booked and tracked. The booking carries the contract reference, so allocation use stays current.

Conditions for confirming without a person

Requests outside these conditions are not rejected. They are routed. A request beyond allocation is a commercial decision, covered in Beyond contract allocation.

What the manufacturer should see

  • Which volumes are confirmed, and on which sailing.
  • Which are waiting, and why.
  • How much of the allocation is used for the period.

A clear status on waiting requests removes most of the follow-up calls, even when the answer is not yet yes.

Why this capability matters

Manufacturers judge a carrier by how quickly and reliably it answers. Matching forecasts to contracts by hand slows the answer and ties up the commercial team. Clear rules for what can be confirmed, and what needs a person, give faster answers and free the team for the decisions that matter.

Related reading

Map one OEM forecast

Follow one manufacturer's forecast from receipt to confirmed booking. Note where it waited and who decided. Bring the map to a conversation with us.

Cartagena builds these capabilities together with each customer, as tailored solutions on the Microsoft platform.

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