User Guide
1. General Information
2. Starting Up
3. Connecting data
4. Demand and Sales Forecasting
5. Inventory Planning
6. Reference
1. General Information
2. Starting Up
3. Connecting data
4. Demand and Sales Forecasting
5. Inventory Planning
6. Reference
The Settings dialog is used to configure Streamline and the currently open project in particular. All settings are divided into several groups. Each group is located on a certain tab of the dialog. These are:
To open up the program settings, go to the menu File > Settings.
The General tab comprises the global settings of the program (see figure below).
The Project tab contains settings to manage forecast generation, inventory replenishment, and customize reports.
This option is unchecked by default, meaning that Streamline re-imports one period of the data before the latest one with data. Thus, Streamline overlaps by one period of the history when updates your data (see figure below).
The Quick update option is handy when updating your project takes a significant time.
The ABC analysis tab is used to configure the ABC analysis that is automatically performed for your project. Streamline allows carrying out two-dimensional ABC analysis.
You can set the annual revenue percentage for each class Using the options below the Number of classes. For example, the percentage for A class set to 70% means that the class contains the items that give 70% of annual revenue in total. The percentage for the last class is a leftover from other classes and is calculated automatically.
The Inventory tab allows you to customize your inventory reports on the Inventory planning tab.
Default lead time option sets the default lead time in days for all the planning items.
Default average shelf life exceeding sets the default percentage of the replenished quantity that might have to be discarded because of Shelf-life limitation.
All defaults are applied to all planning items together.
Safety stock section defines how the Safety stock is calculated. It can be:
Safety_stock = α* δ *√t
,
where:
α
is determined by the given Service level unambiguously; δ
is the standard deviation of the model error; t
is the Order cycle value if the periodic strategy is used, or the Lead time value if the min/max approach is applied. The Order cycle and Lead time values are converted to the data aggregation periods before the calculation.n
data aggregation periods coming after the Lead time plus Order cycle. Where n
is given.Show columns section contains options that hide or show the particular column or section in the Inventory report table.
When the Include material consumption option is unchecked, the Demand forecast section of the inventory report shows only the final demand forecast based on the sales of items. Otherwise, the section shows the summed demand that includes manufacturing consumption and sales of the items.
Show actual sales option adds an additional table section in the Reports that displays sales history by periods.
Streamline can drive the replenishment process using Periodic or Min/Max replenishment strategies.
The periodic strategy is used when purchase orders are placed periodically, for example, once per month. In this case, Streamline provides a just-in-time ordering plan of what, when and how much to order. The information is given in the Current order section of the Inventory planning tab.
Show entire ordering plan option shows the ordering plan within entire forecast horizon.
The min/max strategy is used when a purchase order should be placed when a stock level is about a certain replenishment threshold (reorder point), and you need to fill it up to some maximum level. In this case Streamline provides the Reorder point and Max inventory information via the Inventory planning. This information can be used then to draw your purchase plan.
The Distribution center tab allows you to configure your distribution centers.
Enable option enables or disables distribution center (DC).
The Location control defines how Streamline treats the DC. If the ‘(Other location)’ is active, DC is considered as an intermediate warehouse between suppliers and locations that can only receive products from suppliers and replenish other locations with necessary volumes of goods. Any other option of the Location drop-down list makes Streamline incorporate the chosen location into the DC so that it can ship products to customers in addition to the intermediate warehouse functionality.
Default lead time option sets the default lead time in days to deliver an item from supplier to DC.
Default order cycle option sets the default interval of time between two successive replenishment orders made from DC to the supplier. It can be given in months/weeks (depending on the sales history aggregation period), or in days or lead times.
Default average shelf life exceeding sets the default percentage of the item’s purchase quantity that we might have to: send to a clearance sale, return to the supplier and so on.
The defaults mentioned above are set for all the planning items at once.
Safety stock section defines how the DC safety stock is calculated. It can be:
DC_safety_stock = √(SS21(α,t) + SS22(α,t) + … + SS2m(α,t))
,
SSi(α,t) = α * δi *√t, i = 1, …, m
,
where:
SSi
is the safety stock for i-th location; m
is the number of locations.δi
is the standard deviation of the model in i-th location.α
is determined by the given DC service level unambiguously.t
is the Order cycle value if the periodic strategy is used, or the Lead time value if the min/max approach is applied. The Order cycle and Lead time values are converted to the data aggregation periods before the calculation.n
data aggregation periods coming after the Lead time plus Order cycle. Where n
is given.Show columns section contains options that hide or show a particular column or section in the table on the Distribution center tab.
Streamline can drive the replenishment process using Periodic or Min/Max replenishment strategies. These options allow you to set up the replenishment strategy for the DC.
Show entire ordering plan option shows the ordering plan within entire forecast horizon.