Contents
Description
Key Features
Forecast Pro editions
What's new?
Consultancy and Training
Demo Copy
Technical information
Pricing and Ordering Information
What is Forecast Pro (by Business Forecast Systems, Inc)
Forecast Pro is easy to learn and easy to use. It does not require a background in statistics or forecasting. In fact, in expert selection mode, creating forecasts is literally as easy as clicking a mouse.
You provide the historic data and Forecast Pro does the rest. The built-in expert selection system analyzes your data, selects the appropriate forecasting technique, builds the model and calculates the forecasts--it even explains its reasoning in ordinary English!
For the more experienced forecaster, Forecast Pro provides complete custom modeling capabilities and the diagnostic tools to get the job done.
Key Features
Forecast Pro is one of the most popular forecasting packages in the market. It is very simple to use and still very powerful and accurate.
Forecast Pro includes many forecasting techniques and provides an expert system that chooses among the following five classes of forecasting models to satisfy all mainstream business forecasting needs.
Simple Methods - For very short or extremely volatile data, Forecast Pro includes moving average models.
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)
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).
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.
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.
Forecast Pro lets you add your business knowledge
by allowing
you to 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.
In addition and very importantly, Forecast Pro provides excellent facilities to produce graphical and text reports. You can taylor them to your specific preferences by using the output design option in Forecast Pro
Forecast Pro imports data in a variety formats including Excel and Lotus spreadsheets, ASCII (text) files and ODBC. Theseformats 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:
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)
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.
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.
Census X-11 - Is used to factor a time series into its major constituents (trend-cycle, seasonal, trading day and irregular).
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.
|
Standard |
XE
|
Unlimited |
| Expert Selection |
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
| Simple Methods |
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
| Curve Fitting |
yes
|
yes
|
no |
| Low Volume Models |
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
| Exponencial Smoothing |
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
| Box-Jenkins |
yes
|
yes
|
yes
|
| Dynamic Regression |
no
|
yes
|
no
|
| Event Models |
no
|
yes
|
yes
|
| Multilevel Forecasting |
no
|
yes
|
yes
|
| Census X-11 |
no
|
yes
|
no
|
| Batch Forecasting |
<=10
|
<=100
|
unlimited
|
| Command Line Operation |
no
|
no
|
yes
|
Multiple forecast overrides that can be saved and recalled with comments
|
no
|
no
|
yes
|
Collaborative forecasting
|
no
|
no
|
yes
|
