Chapter 21: Setting Up Forecasting Values

Purpose: The Forecasting section of the System Control file defines forecasting period parameters and order categories.

For more information: For instructions and screen samples on how to create, change, delete, and copy a system control value, see Chapter 12: System Control File Components.

Quick Reference of Forecasting System Control Values

This table describes briefly each system control value for the Forecasting application area and lists the control value, a short definition, other control values to which you should refer to in this section, if necessary, and a column where you can indicate the value that you assigned for your company.

If you have more than one company on your system, make a copy of this table for each company on your system.

Company: ______________________________

System Control Value	Description	Your Value
Forecasting Values (C00):
# of Days in Forecasting Period (B96)	Defines the number of days in the period to capture forecast activity.	Number:
Forecasting Period Description (B97)	Defines the period as a day or week.	Code:
# of Forecasting Periods (B98)	Defines the number of periods you want to forecast activity for.	Number:
# of Periods to Collect Daily Data (C01)	Defines the number of periods that the system will track daily data, in addition to the periods defined in # of Forecasting Periods (B98).	Number:
First Day of a Forecasting Period (B99)	Defines the day of the week that begins the forecasting period, or if you are collecting data on a daily basis.	Code:
Forecasting Order Category #1 (B94)	Defines the description of this order category.	Code:
Forecasting Order Category #2 (B95)	Defines the description of this order category.	Code:
# of Periods to Offset Returns (C06)	Defines the number of periods that should be subtracted from the current period to offset posting a return.	Number:
Cushion Periods (C19)	Defines the number of periods to add to the due date for an item on the Inventory Status and Projection report.	Number:
Periods to Use Expected Return % (D27)	Defines the number of periods to use the Expected return% from the SKU/offer in various calculations on the Inventory Status and Projection Report. After this time has passed, the system will use the actual percentage of returns received for the offer in these calculations.	Number:
Periods to Use Projected Units (H91)	Defines the number of periods to use the Projected units from the item offer or SKU offer as the Projected units field on the Inventory Status and Projection Report rather than calculating the projected units based on demand for the item/SKU.	Number:
IS Report Projected Dollar Calculation Price Basis (D59)	Defines whether to use the Item or SKU price to calculate projected totals on the Inventory Status and Projection Report.	Code:
Print Item Status or Sold Out Control on 10 Offer IS Report (D78)	Defines whether to include the item status code or the soldout control code for an item when printing the 10-offer version of the Inventory Status and Projection Report.	Yes/No:

Forecasting Values (C00)

Purpose: Use this screen to define the Forecasting system control values. These values control the calculations used on the Inventory Status & Projection Report (ISRP)

MSR0505 ENTER Edit Forecasting Values 6/07/02 10:37:19 EZK Mail Order # Of Days In Forecasting Period 7 Forecasting Period Description . Week # of Forecasting Periods . . . . 52 # Of Periods to Collect Daily Data 5 First Day of Forecasting Period MON Forecasting Order Category #1 . Phone Forecasting Order Category #2 . Mail # Of Periods to Offset Returns . 1 Cushion Periods . . . . . . . . 1 Periods to use expected rtn % . 1 Periods to use projected units . 1 F3=Exit F12=Cancel

# of Days in Forecasting Period (B96)

Enter the number of days in a forecasting period. You can enter 1 or a 7. If you enter 1, forecast activity will be captured daily. If you enter 7, forecast activity will be captured on a weekly basis.

Forecasting Period Description (B97)

Enter a description of the forecasting period (day or week). The system uses this description on screens and reports. This is a 10-position, alphanumeric field. It is a required entry.

# of Forecasting Periods (B98)

Enter the number of forecasting periods (from 1 to 99) that the system will store. For example, if the number of days in your forecasting period is 7, the number of forecasting periods you could store would be 52. Or, you might not want to collect forecasting data for the entire year, maybe only for 48 periods for example. This is a 2-position, numeric field. It is a required entry.

Note: You cannot enter a number larger than 99.

# of Periods to Collect Daily Data (C01)

Enter the number of forecasting periods for which the system should track daily activity, in addition to tracking forecasting data by period. You can specify that daily data should be collected for all periods, for none, or for any specified number of periods. This allows you to view (through an inquiry function) the activity for each day within a forecasting period. This is a 2-position, numeric field. It is an optional entry.

For example, if you have defined a forecasting period as 7 days for 50 periods, you can specify that for the first three weeks, (in this case periods), the system should track the data by day as well as by week. You may have an offer with a 50 period cycle, but since the first three periods are the most active, you might want to collect daily data for those three periods.

First Day of a Forecasting Period (B99)

Enter the day that begins the forecasting period. If you are tracking daily activity (the # Of Days in Forecasting Period is 1) then this value must be *ANY. Otherwise, one day of the week must be chosen. This is a 3-position, alphanumeric field. It is a required entry. Valid entries are:

• *ANY = Daily activity

• MON = Monday

• TUE = Tuesday

• WED = Wednesday

• THU = Thursday

• FRI = Friday

• SAT = Saturday

• SUN = Sunday

If you use the Forerunner IF/SO Interface (EFOR, DFOR), you should set this field to MON.

Forecasting Order Category #1 (B94)

Enter the description of this order category, for example, mail, phone, or any code that meaningfully describes the category for which you want to collect forecast data. This is a 10-position, alphanumeric field. It is a required entry.

Order categories are used to compare in forecast projections (on screens and reports) the number of orders and dollars that are received for each period of the forecast by the order category.

Forecasting Order Category #2 (B95)

Enter the description of this order category, for example, mail, phone, or any code that meaningfully describes the category for which you want to collect forecast data. This is a 10-position, alphanumeric field. It is a required entry.

Order categories are used to compare in forecast projections (on screens and reports) the number of orders and dollars that are received for each period of the forecast by the order category

# of Periods to Offset Returns (C06)

Enter the number of forecasting periods that returns should be offset in the forecast. If you enter a number in this field, returns will not be posted to the period in which they are received, but will be posted to the offsetting period you indicate.

The posting period for returns is determined by this calculation:

Current period

- Number of periods to offset returns

Period number to which the return is posted

 

For example, if you specified 2 periods, then any returns which occurred in period 5 would be applied against orders which were received in period 3.

Cushion Periods (C19)

Enter the number of forecasting periods that will be added to an item's due date to determine when the item should be re-ordered. This information is used on the Inventory Status and Projection Reports to identify items that you anticipate will go out of stock before the demand for the item is met (as determined in the forecast).

Periods to Use Expected Return % (D27)

(Periods to Use Expected Return Percentage): Enter the number of periods to use the Expected return % defined in the SKU/Offer or Item/Offer file for calculations on the Inventory Status and Projection reports.

After this time has passed, the system will use the actual percentage of returns posted for an offer on the Inventory Status and Projection reports.

The calculation to determine the actual return percentage is:

Actual Return Percentage = Units Returned ÷ Units Sold

 

Note: The Units Returned value in this calculation includes the number of units exchanged.

Periods to Use Projected Units (H91)

This field indicates whether to use the Projected units from the item/offer or SKU/offer as the Projected units for an item/SKU on the Inventory Status & Projection Report (ISRP). You might want to use the projected units from the item/offer or SKU/offer if it is too early in the offer to produce a valid forecast based on the units that have actually been ordered.

Important: In order for the report to use the Projected units from the item/offer or SKU/offer, you must set the Use projected units field at the Select Class/Sold Out/Curve Overrides Screen to Y when you generate the report.

When the projected units defaults from item/offer or SKU/offer: The report uses the Projected units from the item/offer or SKU/offer on the report only if:

• the current period of the curve is less than or equal to the Periods to Use Projected Units (H91) system control value, and

• the Use projected units field is set to Y at the Select Class/Sold Out/Curve Overrides screen.

When projected units is calculated: The report calculates the Projected units on the report if:

• the current period of the curve is greater than the Periods to Use Projected Units (H91) system control value, or

• the Use projected units field is set to N at the Select Class/Sold Out/Curve Overrides screen.

The standard calculation is: (Actual units ordered * 100) / % complete = projected units

Example:	system control value = 1 current period = 1 Use projected units is selected Result: projected units: from SKU/offer
	system control value = 1 current period = 1 Use projected units is unselected Result: projected units: standard calculation
	system control value = 1 current period = 2 Use projected units is selected Result: projected units: standard calculation

When the projected units will be zero: The projected units for an item on the report will be zero whenever the report uses the calculation described above, but the % complete or the actual units ordered are zero.

Example:

curve is 10% complete system control value = 1 current period = 1 actual units ordered = 0 Use projected units not selected Result: projected units: zero

The following table summarizes the determination of the projected units field on the report if you set the Use projected units field to Y:

% complete based on curve	Current period compared to system control value	Projected units calculation
0	less than (or equal to)	Projected units from SKU/offer or item/offer
0	greater than	0: (actual units ordered * 100) / % complete of 0
greater than 0	less than (or equal to)	Projected units from SKU/offer or item/offer
greater than 0	greater than	(actual units ordered * 100) / % complete (if the actual units ordered is 0, the Projected units will be 0

If you leave this system control value set to zero, the report will never use the Projected units from the item/offer or SKU/offer; instead, it will always use the calculation described above. However, if either the actual units ordered or the Percent complete is zero, the Projected units on the report will also be zero.

IS Report Projected Dollar Calculation Price Basis (D59)

Purpose: Use this screen to define whether to base projections in the Inventory Status & Projection Report (ISRP) on Item or SKU prices.

MSR0051 CHANGE Change System Control Value 3/21/96 15:36:34 Description . : IS Report Projected $ calculation price basis Code . . . . . ITEM SKU ITEM Narrative . . . Application . : FOR Applic group . ALL Sequence# . . . 999 F3=Exit F12=Cancel

Code field: If you enter ITEM or leave this field blank, the Inventory Status and Projection Report uses the price defined for the item to calculate projections. If you enter SKU, the report uses the price defined for the SKU; you might use this setting if your business is apparel-based, and actual sale prices are kept at the SKU level.

Only the multi-offer version of the report will use the value in this field; the single-offer version will always use the Item price.

The Inventory Status & Projection Report (ISRP) is a tool for inventory planning and merchandise reordering.

Print Item Status or Sold Out Control on 10 Offer IS Report (D78)

Purpose: Use this field to indicate whether to include the item status code or the soldout control code on the 10-offer version of the Inventory Status & Projection Report (ISRP).

MSR0051 CHANGE Change System Control Value 6/07/02 10:25:10 Description . : Print Item Status or Sold Out Control on 10 Offer IS Report Code . . . . . ITEMSTS ITEMSTS SOLDOUT Narrative . . . Application . : FOR Applic group . ALL Sequence# . . . 100 F3=Exit F12=Cancel

Code field: Enter the code that indicates whether to include the item status code or the soldout control code on the 10-offer version of the Inventory Status and Projection report:

• ITEMSTS: Include the Status code from the Item file on the report. The column heading on the report is S.

• SOLDOUT: Include the S/O control code from the SKU file on the report. The column heading on the report is SO.

• blank: Include neither code on the report. The column heading and contents are blank.

The single-offer version of the report includes both the item status code and the soldout control code.

For more information: See:

• Performing Initial Item Entry (MITM) for information on assigning status codes to items and soldout control codes to SKUs

• Inventory Status & Projection Report (ISRP) for information on generating this report and understanding its contents