Forecast Factors

Forecast factors are the basic elements of the volume and labour forecasts. You can arrange these elements in a variety of ways depending on your needs and interests. A set of forecast factors is called a favourite factors view. Default favourite factors views are provided and they are easy to build on to create customised views. You can also create your own default views.

  1. Click Favourite Factors .
  2. Select either:
    • a previously defined My Favourite Factors view,
    • or
    • one of the three Standard Favourite Factors views:
      • Forecast Only - shows the forecasted values for the forecast week
      • Forecast and Last Week - shows the forecasted values for the forecast week and the week preceding the forecast week.
      • Forecast and Last Year - shows the forecasted values for the forecast week and same week last year (52 weeks ago)
  3. Click Apply.
  1. Click Favourite Factors and select the view you want to modify or use as the basis for the new view.
  2. Click Manage Factors .
  3. The Manage Forecast Factors panel appears, listing all the loaded factors of the currently selected view. Scroll down if necessary. Loaded factors that are currently displayed have a check mark. Loaded factors that are currently hidden have no check mark.
  4. To display or hide a loaded forecast factor toggle the check box.
  5. To remove a loaded forecast factor from the view you are creating, so that it will not be loaded again, click Remove .
  6. To add a configured forecast factor not currently loaded, continue with the next step, Otherwise, skip to step Forecast Factors
  7. Click Add New Forecast Factor .
  8. From the Forecast Factor menu, select the type of forecast factor.
  9. Depending on the type you selected, one or more of the following menus may subsequently appear. If so, select one item from each menu that appears.
    •  
    • From the Volume Driver menu, select a volume driver to display as this favourite factor. You can also select multiple volume drivers--the system creates a forecast factor for each one, using the same choices you made for the other menus. All volume drivers defined for this location or its descendants appear on the menu, even ones with no data.
      • System Generated - The forecasted values generated by the most recent forecasting run
      • Actual - the recorded historical volume imported from data sources such as a POS system
      • Budgeted - budgeted values imported from budgeting software
      • Forecasted - the system generated forecast including any modifications made with the Forecast Planner
      • Changed - the percent difference between the system generated values the (modified) forecasted data type
      • Forecast % of Actuals - Forecasted values divided by Actual values, multiplied by 100
      • Earned Hours - The labour hours that should have been scheduled based on the actual volumes, applied to labour standards and other factors affecting the labour forecast. If you are looking at the current week, this data reflects the calculation up until yesterday.
  10. When you have selected one option from each menu that appears, do one of the following:
    • Click Save and return to work. If you want to save the view for future sessions, continue with the next step.
    • Click Save and Add More. Go back to the first step in this procedure and add another Forecast Factor to the view.
  11. Click Apply.
  12. Note:

    If you only want to use the current list of favourite factors for this session, nothing further is required. When you log in next time, the favourite factor list will revert to the previously saved version.

    If you want to save your modifications to the favourite factors, or save them as a new favourite factors, follow the steps titled To save: under To save, modify or delete the current favourite factors view following.

  1. Click Favourite Factors .
  2. Click Save. The Save Favourite panel opens.
    • To create a new Favourite Factor list, select Save as New and type a Title.
    • To modify the existing Favourite Factors list, select Overwrite Existing.
  3. Note:

    To cause the system to automatically include all the volume drivers with forecasted data assigned to the location, click Include All Assigned Forecasted Drivers. This can be important if you want to use this Favourite Factors list for locations that have different volume drivers assigned.

    When used in any location, the Favourite Factors list shows all the forecasted volume drivers assigned to that location for the selected forecast week.

  4. Click Save.
  1. Click Favourite Factors .
  2. Click Edit.
  3. Click Rename.
  4. Enter the new name.
  5. Click Apply.
  1. Click Favourite Factors .
  2. Click Edit.
  3. Click Make Default Set of Favourite Factors.
  4. Click Apply.
  1. Click Favourite Factors .
  2. Click Edit.
  3. Click Delete.
  4. Click Apply.

When a user opens the Volume or Labour workspace in the Forecast Planner with selected forecast factors, the Forecast Planner filters on the factor's data type. If it detects any of the following configuration issues that would prevent one or more of the selected forecast factors from being displayed, it generates a warning message:

  • Unavailable factor types – One or more of the selected factor definitions are not included in the Forecast Planner configuration.
  • One or more locations to which a volume driver is not assigned – The assigned volume driver must also be included in the selected set of forecast factors.
  • Issues with custom drivers – No custom driver has been created for one or more of the selected departments, or the custom driver cannot be displayed for one or more selected non-department locations.
  • When a job-related forecast factor has been selected, and the selected set of locations includes locations that are not at the department level – Jobs can be displayed only at the department level.