Projected demand and Forecast Modes

Edit online

Projected demand is a feature of IBM® Maximo Inventory Optimization that provides a powerful tool for predicting item usage when any new changes that affect future usage are different from past usage. For example, when a change in demand requires that more stock items are needed than what was previously used, it makes historic values no longer relevant, and new values must be entered. In this situation, Projected Demand can be used.

Projected demand uses values that are entered manually, or imported from file, as forecast values. You can input up to 24 months of projected demand values.

The forecast mode determines both the way to calculate the forecast demand, and how much of the historic and/or projected demand data to use. For example, New Trend uses only 12 months of Projected Demand data to calculate stocking levels.

The different forecast modes available are:

  • Actuals only
  • Actuals and Projected Usage
  • Projected demand only
  • New trend

Accessing Projected Demand Forecast

The Projected Demand forecasting feature is accessed via the Forecast widget on the Form View, for more information see Forecast widget. To use Projected Demand for calculating stock levels, click the Settings menu and select Forecast Mode and Periods`. Under the Forecast Mode drop down box select an option, and click save.

Actuals

When the forecast mode is set to Actuals, only historic data is used to forecast usage and determine stocking levels. Forecast Usage is calculated by using actual (historical) demand only. This forecast mode is used when future usage is expected to be similar to past usage.

Actuals and Projected Demand that is combined

For this option, the forecast usage is calculated by using both the actual (historical) usage and the projected demand. Projected demand values need to be entered when you use this mode, as both actual usage, and projected demand are used to determine the appropriate forecast usage trend, and value.

Projected demand Only

Using only Projected demand is based on projected demand exclusively. This option is used when the projected usage is known and the actual usage is not available or not relevant. This mode allows users to define the exact usage to be used in the future months. This is useful for incorporating projected demand from Maintenance or Production stakeholders to better determine an optimal ordering strategy. The values can be entered in the Usage Grid View of the widget, and via the import file option. The Usage Grid View displays only a maximum of 24 months into the future.

New Trend

New Trend is a Forecast Mode that uses both present and future values. For more information, see New Trend.