Configure Forecast Planner

How to configure Forecast Planner.

A forecast planner can show the Volume and the Labor Forecast.

  1. Select Administration > Application Setup > Forecaster Setup > Forecast Planner.
    Note: If there are many existing forecast planners in the table you can more easily find the one you are looking for by selecting an option on the Filter menu, or by typing a keyword in the Search field at the top of the Name column.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • Click Tap New and continue with the following steps.
    • Select an existing forecast planner and click tap Duplicate and continue with the following steps, making any appropriate modifications.
    • Select an existing forecast planner and click tap Edit and continue with the following steps, making any appropriate modifications.
    • Select an existing forecast planner and click tap Delete.
      Note: You cannot delete a forecast profile if it is in use.
  3. Enter a Name and an optional Description.
  4. Enter an optional Label to appear on the Main menu. If there is no Label defined here, the Name appears on the Main menu.
  5. In Available Steps, select one or more of the following:
    • Volume
    • Labor
    • Forecast Home—

      Forecast Home shows a graphical view of the Volume data. It shows weekly volume in a bar graph for a single location. The graph is read-only and you cannot edit the volume.

  6. In Default Step, select one of the following to appear by default when the Forecast Planner opens:
    • Volume
    • Labor
    • Forecast Home
  7. In Default Location, select one of the following types of locations to show when the Forecast Planner opens:
    • Home Location— Show the user's the home location.
    • Locations— Define the locations to show regardless of which user is logged in; see Select Locations.
  8. In Available Factor Definition Types, select the options that the Forecast Planner can show. The options that are currently assigned are displayed above the list.
    Note: These options are disabled by default. Newly available options, such as System Adjusted Labor Hours and Adjustment Labor Driver, must be enabled in existing forecast planners, as appropriate to be made available to users.
  9. Select the appropriate drivers from the Read-only Volume Drivers list. Currently selected options appear above the list.
    Note: All Read-Only Volume Drivers are unselected by default. For all existing forecast planners, they are unselected and must be enabled in the Forecast Planner configuration.

The Forecast Planner displays data by forecast week. The forecast week determines the range for which volume and labor data are calculated. The breadcrumb shows only locations that are effective for the entire forecast week that is selected.

Select Locations

The Select Locations dialog provides additional options to select specific locations (sets of jobs) in the business structure. By default the dialog lists the highest business structure levels within the configured location.

To include only locations active as of a specific date:
  1. Enter an As Of date, or select one with the Select Date tool.
  2. Click Tap Apply.

To search for locations or jobs:

  1. Type the first letters of the jobs or location in the Search field.
  2. Click Tap Launch the Search .

    To select jobs within one of the business structure levels listed, select the check box and select Apply.

    To list the breakdown of jobs or sub-levels within one of the business structure levels listed, click tap the right arrow . The breakdown displays in a list to the right.
    • If you see the level or job for the schedule you want to load, select the check box and click tap Apply.
    • If you want to list the breakdown of any location that appears on the right click tap the right arrow .The breakdown appears in a new list to the right. Select the check box of any job or any level of the business structure to include that job or location.

      If no right arrow appears, there is no further breakdown possible on that branch of the business structure.

Default Volume Forecast Interval

Use interval volume forecasts to make comparisons.

  • If forecast intervals are enabled and a daily value is imported, that value is distributed to the intervals. If the forecast interval values are already generated, the values are updated proportionally by the percentage contribution of each interval to the original daily total.
  • If forecast intervals were not created, the interval values are created from a saved traffic pattern. If no traffic pattern exists, the daily value is distributed evenly to each interval.
  • Whether daily volume forecast totals exist or not, the totals are created or updated when interval volume forecasts are imported.
  1. Select Administration > Application Setup > Business Structure Setup > Business Structure Attributes.
    1. Select a business structure and click tap Edit.
    2. In Forecast Attributes, select Generate Volume Intervals.
    3. Click Tap Save.
  2. Select Administration > Application Setup > Forecaster Setup > Forecast Planner.
    1. Select the forecast planner and click tap Edit.
    2. In Default Volume Forecast Interval, select 15, 30, or 60 minutes.
      Note: The grid or table view of Actual Volume always shows only 15-minute intervals. However, you can select and show any interval in the Daily Volume Details from Forecast Home.
    3. Click Tap Save.

Monetary values

Users can view and edit monetary data in the location-specific currency or the user-preferred currency. The user’s preferred currency is the default currency displayed for all locations. Viewing data in the grid by location displays the currency value next to the Forecast Factor.

Users can toggle between their user-preferred currency and any location-specific currency associated with the locations that are loaded into the Forecast Planner using Tools > Change Currency. Use the Change Currency ACP to control whether or not a user can toggle between currencies.

Edits that are made will be made in the currency that is displayed to the user

Forecast Planner supports multiple currencies in the Actual drill-down, Labor drill-down, Custom Labor drivers, and Manage Factors. Because Custom Labor drivers are assigned to departments only, they will use the currency of the site, but are converted to use the user-preferred currency when Forecast Planner is loaded.