Year-long supply and purchasing plan

> Cost: Paid. Prediko starts at $49/month (Shopify billing, 14-day trial). A business this size will likely need a higher tier.

Honest note: this is forecasting and planning software, not a chatbot. The retailer is larger than most readers' businesses: an online store, a physical shop, its own production and 7 people using the tool. "About 30% of the time we used before" is the team's own estimate in Prediko's case study. The useful idea for a smaller maker or retailer is the same, though: plan raw materials from finished-goods demand, and send suppliers a scheduled report instead of building one each time.

Prerequisites

• A Shopify store with inventory tracking on.
• For products you make: the recipe for each (raw materials and quantities).
• Supplier lead times, including the long ones.
• Supplier email addresses for anyone who should get a regular stock or plan report.

Step-by-step setup

Step 1. Install and connect. Install Prediko from the Shopify App Store, create your account and set your Stock Cover.

Step 2. Add suppliers. Go to Settings → Suppliers → Add Supplier (or Settings → Import for many). Enter each Lead Time in days. Long lead times are what make a 12-month view useful.

Step 3. Add raw materials and recipes. Go to Settings → Raw Materials & BOMs → Add Raw Material (or Import) and set Units in Stock, Supplier and Lead Time. Then choose Bill of Material → Add Bills of Materials, pick the finished product and SKUs, add each raw material with its quantity, and enter production days.

Step 4. Read the 12-month supply plan. Open the Supply tab. For each month it shows the plan, current stock, deliveries already ordered and what you still need to buy. Anything flagged as an "unachievable plan" can't arrive in time with current lead times.

Step 5. Buy raw materials from finished-goods demand. On the Buy page, select the items you make and Prediko creates a Production Order, which works out the raw materials needed. Order the raw materials from the Buy table with Create draft order.

Step 6. Send suppliers a scheduled report. Open Reporting, choose a report (for example Inventory on hand or Sales and Quantities), add filters for that supplier's products and save it as a view. Click Schedule Send, add the supplier's email, choose frequency, time and start date, and click Schedule. This suits suppliers who manage your stock levels for you (vendor-managed inventory).

Step 7. Check stock health. Use the Stockout Risk, Overstock and Deadstock reports weekly, or save them as Buy-table views.

Easier: let your AI do it

Prediko has an official MCP server that lets an AI chat read your plan and, with your OK, update forecasts or draft orders. In Claude, open Settings → Connectors → Browse connectors, search Prediko and click Connect (or Add custom connector with https://mcp.prediko.io/mcp). ChatGPT needs a paid plan with developer mode on (Settings → Advanced settings), then Settings → Connectors → Create. Ask: "Which raw materials do I need to order this month to hit the plan for the next six months?" Check the answer against the Supply tab.

What success looks like

Planning meetings start from the Supply tab instead of a spreadsheet someone built overnight, and suppliers stop emailing to ask for your numbers because the report arrives on schedule.

Common issues & fixes

• Raw materials don't go down: they're used up by Production Orders, not by Shopify sales. Create and complete production orders.
• The supplier report is empty: the view's filter doesn't match that supplier's products.
• The plan looks wrong for new products: they have no history. Edit their months in the plan by hand.

Optional: Maintenance

• Monthly: compare actual sales to the plan and adjust.
• Quarterly: update long lead times and recipes.

Copy-paste prompt

I sell [PRODUCT TYPE] and make some of it myself. My supplier lead times range from [X] to [Y] weeks. Here is my 12-month sales plan by product and the raw materials per unit: [PASTE TABLE].
1. Work out the month I need to order each raw material so it arrives one month before production.
2. List any product where the lead time makes next season's plan impossible.
3. Draft a short monthly email to a supplier that introduces an automatic stock report and asks them to flag any delays.
Don't invent figures; ask me if something is missing.

Sources

• Case: Prediko case study (outdoor gear retailer, Finland). Credit: the retailer's purchasing team (vendor-published).
• Prediko Help: Using the Supply Planning tab
• Prediko Help: Quick start guide: raw materials
• Prediko Help: Creating a Bill of Materials
• Prediko Help: How to create a production order
• Prediko Help: Reports
• Prediko Help: Can I schedule reports to my inbox?
• Prediko Help: Connect Prediko to AI agents
• Prediko pricing