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Forecast Pro -
The Market Leader
Forecast Pro is
the clear market leader with over 15,000 companies in 84 countries using
the package. A recent Institute of Business Forecasting survey
placed Forecast Pro's market share at 32%, outselling its closest
competitor by a margin of over 4 to 1. Click
here to download a pdf version of the IBF Benchmarking Forecasting
Software report.
Forecast Pro - Proven Accurate
Forecast Pro
recently outperformed all other software approaches and 18 out of 19
academic teams in the Makridakis-3 study, the largest and most comprehensive empirical
forecasting study ever performed. For more information on the M-3
Forecasting Competition click here.
Forecast Pro
includes:
An expert system
that chooses among the following five classes of forecasting models to
satisfy all mainstream business forecasting needs.
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Simple
Methods - For very short or extremely volatile data, Forecast
Pro includes moving average models.
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Curve
Fitting - Provides a quick and easy way to identify the general
form of the curve which your data are following. Forecast Pro
supports four types of curves - straight line, quadratic,
exponential and growth. (Standard
and XE only)
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Low Volume
Models - Croston's Intermittent Demand model and discrete data
models are provided to accommodate low volume and "sparse"
data (i.e., data where the demand is often zero).
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Exponential
Smoothing - Twelve different Holt-Winters exponential smoothing
models are provided to accommodate a wide range of data
characteristics. The robustness of exponential smoothing makes
it ideal when there are no leading indicators, and when the data are
too short or volatile for Box-Jenkins. You can select the
model and set the parameters yourself or let Forecast Pro do it
automatically.
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Box-Jenkins
- For stable data sets, Forecast Pro supports a multiplicative
seasonal Box-Jenkins model. The model can be built completely
automatically or interactively using a full range of screen-oriented
diagnostics.
Add Your
Business Knowledge
Forecast
Pro lets you adjust your forecasts on a graph or in a spreadsheet-like
display. You can adjust single points, ranges or totals, using
percentages, increments or by simply entering new values. If
you've defined a multiple level hierarchy, adjusting a value at any
given level will automatically adjust all appropriate levels.
CLICK ON THE SCREENS ABOVE TO SEE FULL-SIZE
IMAGES OF THE FORECAST ADJUSTMENT FACILITIES IN FORECAST PRO.
Make Convincing
Presentations
Documenting
your work is a snap. Click the graph icon and a graph of your
forecasts, historic data, confidence limits and safety stocks instantly
appears. A few more clicks and you've printed a forecast report
and output your forecasts to a spreadsheet, ASCII file or ODBC compliant
database. As you use the product, Forecast Pro's audit trail
faithfully records everything. Each data set, each model, each
dialogue with the expert, everything is captured so you have a permanent
record of your forecasting session.
CLICK ON THE SCREEN ABOVE TO SEE A FULL-SIZE
IMAGE OF THE FORECAST OUTPUT DESIGN FACILITY IN FORECAST PRO.
Work With Your
Existing Data
Forecast
Pro imports data in a variety of flexible, easy-to-create formats
including Excel and Lotus spreadsheets, ASCII (text) files and
ODBC. These flexible formats allow you to easily import and export
data from virtually any source. There is also an on-line editor to
enter your data directly, or to modify and amend files.
For Advanced
Forecasting Choose Forecast Pro XE or Forecast Pro Unlimited
Forecast Pro XE
and Forecast Pro Unlimited expand the base package's data capacity and
add additional methodologies tailored for advanced business needs.
Models include:
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Dynamic
Regression - If there are important leading indicators or
explanatory variables, use Forecast Pro XE to build causal models.
You can include independent variables, lagged or transformed
variables and build generalized Cochrane-Orcutt models.
Self-interpreting diagnostics lead you quickly through the model
building process. (XE only)
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Event
Models - Event models extend exponential smoothing by providing
adjustments for events like promotions, strikes or other irregular
occurrences. These can be promotions of different sizes or
types, or the effects of moveable holidays like Easter and Rosh
Hashanah. Event models are easy to build and adaptable to a
variety of situations.
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Multiple
Level Exponential Smoothing - Multiple level models allow you to
aggregate data into groups that can be reconciled using a top-down
or bottom-up approach to produce consistent forecasts at all levels
of aggregation. There is no limitation on the number of
levels. Seasonal and event indexes can be extracted from
higher level aggregates and applied to lower level data.
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Census X-11
- Is used to factor a time series into its major constituents
(trend-cycle, seasonal, trading day and irregular).
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Expanded
Batch Forecasting - Forecast Pro XE allows you to forecast up to
100
items in a single run. If you need to forecast hundreds,
thousands, or hundreds of thousands of items you can do it with
Forecast Pro Unlimited.
IF
YOU NEED TO....
Forecast
hundreds or thousands of items.
Easily
navigate through large data files and view graphs, forecasts
and on-screen reports.
Add
multiple overrides or adjustments to forecasts at any level of
your hierarchy and have it reconcile.
Document
your forecast overrides\adjustments with comments.
Store
and recall forecast overrides\adjustments quickly and easily
without re-keying.
Share
information and collaborate on forecasts with others.
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....THEN
YOU NEED FORECAST PRO UNLIMITED
CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO SEE A FULL-SIZE
IMAGE OF THE
FORECAST PRO UNLIMITED MAIN SCREEN.
Introducing
the All New Forecast Pro Unlimited Version 4!
Forecast Pro Unlimited Version 4 is a state-of-the-art forecasting
system designed to automate and simplify large-scale forecasting jobs.
Forecast Pro Unlimited's expert system takes the guesswork out of
forecasting.
Forecast Pro Unlimited uses the same proven univariate methodologies
found in our award-winning Forecast Pro XE package (expert selection,
moving averages, low volume models, exponential smoothing, Box-Jenkins,
event models and multiple level models). You can either specify the
methodology or allow the program to choose automatically.
New
Interface A
synchronized multiple window interface with an intuitive navigator-style
representation of your data makes it easy to drill down into your
hierarchy no matter how many items you are working with. As
you click from item to item, the on-screen graphs, forecast reports and
override views are all automatically updated to show information on the
currently selected item.
Add
Your Judgment to the Forecast
Once you've generated a baseline forecast, Forecast Pro Unlimited's
forecast adjustment/override facility allows you to add your judgment in
a number of flexible ways.
CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO SEE A FULL-SIZE
IMAGE OF THE
FORECAST PRO UNLIMITED FORECAST ADJUSTMENT SCREEN.
You can change the forecasts by selecting points or ranges directly in
on-screen graphs and moving them up or down with your mouse. There's also
a spreadsheet-style
display where you can type in new
values, change by percentages, or increment/decrement selected
forecasts. You can even select a range of values and adjust the total
for that range. Changes made at any level of the forecasting hierarchy automatically
reconcile at all levels. Document
Your Changes with Comments As
you make overrides and forecast adjustments, a handy comment field lets you
document any adjustments/overrides you've made. Your
overrides can then be saved and recalled
at a later time without the need to re-key as new data are added and
statistical forecasts are revised. Collaborate
with Others Forecast
Pro Unlimited also allows you to share your work with others. This capability
is valuable when you want to include more than one person's input into
the forecast. Forecast Pro Unlimited lets you create a file which
contains all historical data, forecasts, and any adjustments already
made and then to pass that file on to any other Forecast Pro Unlimited
user for their input. Which
Edition is Right For You?
To satisfy different corporate needs, three editions of Forecast Pro
are available: Forecast Pro
(Standard Edition), Forecast Pro XE
(Extended Edition) and Forecast Pro
Unlimited. Which edition is right
for you depends on how many items you need to forecast and which
techniques you plan to use. The chart below will help you decide.
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STANDARD |
XE |
UNLIMITED |
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Expert
Selection |
X |
X |
X |
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Simple
Methods |
X |
X |
X |
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Curve
fitting |
X |
X |
|
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Low
volume models |
X |
X |
X |
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Exponential
smoothing |
X |
X |
X |
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Box-Jenkins |
X |
X |
X |
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Dynamic
Regression |
|
X |
|
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Event
models |
|
X |
X |
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Multiple
level forecasting |
|
X |
X |
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Census
X-11 |
|
X |
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Batch
forecasting |
up
to 10 |
up
to 100 |
unlimited |
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Command
line operation |
|
|
X |
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Multiple
forecast overrides that can be saved and recalled with comments |
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|
X |
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Collaborative
forecasting |
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|
X |
FORECAST
PRO COMES WITH AN UNCONDITIONAL 30-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE SO YOU CAN
BUY WITH COMPLETE CONFIDENCE!
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