DRP - Forecast Alert Method FAQ

Question: What are the different forecast alert methods used by DRP?

Answer: This is the current list. New standard (and custom) forecast alert methods may be developed to handle the needs of specific situations.

Note The parameter names must be entered exactly as listed for the calculations to work properly. These same parameter names can be used for different forecast alert methods.

Forecast Alert Method / Program Name	Parameter	Type	Default Value	Description
Forecast Alert (methfalrt.p)	This forecast alert method analyzes forecast units versus actual sold units and creates forecast alert records.
	% above	Decimal	10.0	An alert is created if the total sales is more than this percentage of the total forecast for the consecutive periods selected or the prior periods selected.
	% below	Decimal	10.0	An alert is created if the total sales is less than this percentage of the total forecast for the consecutive periods selected or the prior periods selected.
	Consecutive Periods	Integer	1	This is the number of prior periods to group together for analysis. Example If this is 3, and you select a monthly forecast time bucket starting on 3/31/20 in Forecast Alert Create, then the forecasts for 01/20, 02/20, and 03/20 are added together, and the total is used for the forecast to actual comparison.
	Forecast Groups	Character	Total	This parameter controls whether each forecast group is analyzed individually or in total. You can select one of the following values: Forecast Group - The forecast of each forecast group is compared to the sales of each forecast group. Total - The sum of the forecasts for all forecast groups is compared to the sum of the sales. Both - Both the comparisons for the Forecast Group and Total values are performed. Neither - Neither of the comparisons for the Forecast Group and Total values are performed.
	Forecast Type	Character	Actual	This is the forecast to compare to sales. You can select one of the following values: Actual - The actual forecast Customer - The customer forecast System - The system forecast
	Prior Periods	Integer	1	This is the number of prior periods to analyze before the consecutive periods determined by the Consecutive Periods parameter. Example If this is 2, 3 is entered for the Consecutive Periods parameter, and you select a monthly forecast time bucket starting on 3/31/20 in Forecast Alert Create, forecast totals for 11/19-12/19 (the two periods before the prior three periods) are also compared to total actual sales for 11/19-12/19.
	Qty above	Decimal	10.0	An alert is created if the total sales minus the total forecast is greater than this quantity for the consecutive periods selected or the prior periods selected.
	Qty below	Decimal	10.0	An alert is created if the total forecast minus the total sales is greater than this quantity for the consecutive periods selected or the prior periods selected.

Example The Consecutive Periods parameter is set to 3, the Prior Periods parameter is set to 3, and all other default parameters are used. March 31, 2020 and monthly time buckets are selected in Forecast Alert Create. The following is calculated:

Month	October	November	December	Total for Prior Periods	January	February	March	Total for Consecutive Periods
Actual Forecast	1,000	1,000	1,000	3,000	1,500	1,500	1,500	4,500
Sales	850	750	650	2,250	800	1,100	1,300	3,200
Variance				750				1,300

The variance is above 10 for both the prior periods and consecutive periods, so forecast alerts are created.