Forecast Factors

1. Click Favorite Factors .
2. Select either:
• a previously defined My Favorite Factors view,
• or
• one of the three Standard Favorite 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 Favorite 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.
   • On the Week menu, define the forecast week for this forecast factor.

      
   • From the Volume Driver menu, select a volume driver to display as this favorite 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.
   • From the Data Type menu choose one:

     • 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 labor hours that should have been scheduled based on the actual volumes, applied to labor standards and other factors affecting the labor forecast. If you are looking at the current week, this data reflects the calculation through 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 favorite factors for this session, nothing further is required. When you log in next time, the favorite factor list will revert to the previously saved version.

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

1. Click Favorite Factors .
2. Click Save. The Save Favorite panel opens.
   • To create a new Favorite Factor list, select Save as New and type a Title.
   • To modify the existing Favorite 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 Favorite Factors list for locations that have different volume drivers assigned.

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

4. Click Save.

1. Click Favorite Factors .
2. Click Edit.
3. Click Rename.
4. Enter the new name.
5. Click Apply.

1. Click Favorite Factors .
2. Click Edit.
3. Click Make Default Set of Favorite Factors.
4. Click Apply.

1. Click Favorite Factors .
2. Click Edit.
3. Click Delete.
4. Click Apply.

When a user opens the Volume or Labor 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.