Advanced Update Demand Forecasting does not replace the current, standard and median Eclipse forecasting methods or the standard Update Demand program. These calculations complement the current forecasting to help you delve more deeply into how your products should be managed for replenishment. The system looks through the sales history going back a specified amount of time.
Eclipse calculates demand, finds the current forecast, and then applies the new forecasting. By default, the system uses a 5-year period to calculate demand unless a value is set in the Advanced Demand Forecast Parameters control maintenance record. Eliminates slow moving items that would not generate accurate demand. Smoothing factors for calculating the forecast behind-the-scenes then populate the factors after running the program. With the new methods the system tests seasonality on all products that meet the minimum hits and minimum history for the calculations. By default, the system uses 24 months. Then, Eclipse uses your selected group and goes back the number of weeks indicated in the Advanced Demand Forecast Parameters control maintenance record to gather the most recent sales history on your buy line or product set.
Important: If running the advanced forecasting for all products or all branches, we recommend running the calculations off-hours so as not to impact system performance. If running the forecast for a single product or branch, system performance should not be affected. |
Set these parameters using the Advanced Demand Forecast Parameters control maintenance record.
For more information about advanced forecasting methods, see About Advanced Forecasting Methods .
To run the advanced update demand program:
From the Purchase > Forecasting menu, select Update Advanced Demand Forecast to display a selection list.
In the Select Group field, select one of the following:
Option |
Selects... |
All* |
All products in inventory. |
Changed* |
Only those products that have sold since the last time you ran the Update Forecast Demand program. The system also tests products that, in a given period of time, have decreased in sales activity as compared to the average period between past sales. The system does this to include products in the "changed" group that might be experiencing a decrease in demand. |
Buy Line |
Only those products within a buy line. This option activates the Line or Product field, where you define the buy line. Use this option when you know that significant changes have been made to the products in a given buy line. |
Product |
Only a specified product. This option activates the Line or Product field, where you define the product. For example, if you correct an error on a transaction that affects a product's sales history, use this option to recalculate the product's demand. |
* If you select Changed or All, the Line / Product field does not display.
In the Branch field, enter a branch to define the branches for which to run the update. To run the report for all branches, enter All.
In the Line / Product field, enter the specific buy line or product for which you want to run the forecasting.
Note: The field name changes based on your selection in the Select Group field.
In the As of Date field, enter the actual or system variable date on which the forecast is based.
Note: When using the Phantom Scheduler to run a program at regular intervals, enter a variable date in this field; otherwise, each time the program runs, it will use the same as of date you enter now.
Select the forecast method or methods you want to use for advanced update demand:
Note: Current forecasting methods cannot be deselected.
Single Exponential Smoothing - Standard smoothing factors for forecasting.
Holt - The standard smoothing and includes trending calculations.
Holt-Winters - The standard smoothing and trending calculations, and adds seasonality calculations. Holt-Winters calculations are not made with less than three years demand history.
Note: For more information about these methods and their calculations, see About Advanced Forecasting Methods .
Set the Auto Set Best Fit field to Yes to automatically use the best fit method for advanced demand forecasting. The report indicates this setting in the header of the report.
Do one of the following:
From the File menu, select Begin to run the program immediately. You can also use the Run button to run the calculations immediately.
From the Options menu, select Schedule to display the Phantom Scheduler, where you can schedule the program to run at a defined date and time.