Usage control methods
You assign usage control methods to each product. The usage rate is calculated based on the Months and Method fields in the Usage section in Product Warehouse Product Setup-Ordering.
Forward
The Product Administration Month End Processing Report calculates usage in Product Warehouse Product Setup by rolling back 12 months and moving forward the number of months that is specified in the Months field. The Product Lines Setup trend percentage or the Product Administration Month End Processing Report calculated trend percentage is not applied.
This method is valid for seasonal and regular products.
Backward
The Product Administration Month End Processing Report calculates usage in Product Warehouse Product Setup by rolling back the number of months that is specified in the Months field. The Product Lines Setup trend percentage or the Product Administration Month End Processing Report calculated trend percentage is not applied.
This method is valid for seasonal and regular products.
Trend %
The Product Administration Month End Processing Report calculates usage in Product Warehouse Product Setup by rolling back 12 months and moving forward the number of months that is specified in the Months field. The Product Lines Setup trend percentage or the Product Administration Month End Processing Report calculated trend percentage is applied.
This method is valid for seasonal and regular products.
Exponential Smoothing Alpha 1-9
When you select an alpha factor, exponential smoothing us used to calculate the usage rate. The alpha factor weights the moving average to emphasize recent history. This is useful when a product’s usage shows rapid escalation or decline.
Blank
If you leave the Method field blank, the usage rate is calculated based on the usage months and seasonality of the product.
If the product is seasonal, the Product Administration Month End Processing Report calculates usage in Product Warehouse Product Setup by rolling back 12 months and moving forward the number of months that is specified in the Months field. The Product Lines Setup trend percentage or the Product Administration Month End Processing Report calculated trend percentage is applied.
If the product is not seasonal, the Product Administration Month End Processing Report rolls back 12 months, moves forward six months, totals, averages, and then applies the trend percentage.