Company News • 06.02.2009
New Software Functions for Even Better Forecasts
Release 5.0.0 of SAF SuperStore and SAF SuperWarehouse considers cannibalization effects and price developments
SAF AG, which is listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN CH0024848738), and is one of the world’s leading suppliers of automated forecasting and ordering systems for retailers, will demonstrate the new functions of Major Release 5.0.0 for its SAF SuperStore and
SAF SuperWarehouse products at the EuroCIS trade fair (February 10-12, 2009 in Düsseldorf). SAF software models price developments at suppliers as well as cannibalization effects caused by promotions. That way, retailers can estimate how the promotion of one product impacts the demand for other items. In addition to further improving forecast quality, SAF has also optimized reporting and breakdown of the forecast results.
“A promotion for bio-beef can reduce the demand for turkey schnitzel, but increase the demand for barbecue sauce. It’s difficult for retailers to estimate these cannibalization effects,” explains Dr. Andreas von Beringe, SAF CEO. “The expanded functionalities of our new Version 5.0.0 help retailers to consider these and other important effects in their replenishment. Forecast quality has been further improved through the inclusion of additional influencing factors.”
In addition, both the SAF SuperStore and the SAF SuperWarehouse software products have been expanded by an investment buying function that considers price developments at suppliers in replenishment planning. For example, the system shifts orders into other time periods to achieve better pricing terms from the manufacturer. Besides that, in Release 5.0.0, the forecast is apportioned so that the proportions of the different influencing factors are recognizable in the forecast. That’s important for understanding the forecasts and further analyses. Retailers can quantify, for example, the effect of a promotion on the sales of a product. They can also see how high the sales would have been without the promotion, if additional influencing factors such as holidays have an effect at the same time.
SAF software displays each interim step in the calculation of the order optimization. This improved reporting enables users to understand why the system changed orders. They gain more confidence in the system and the quality of the results, and pass on unnecessary manual changes by ordering. Furthermore, the functional scope of the SAF forecasting module has been expanded so that metric influencing factors can now be transformed. For example, through transformation of the price history of an item, the software can calculate its respective change in price. This can better explain the sales performance of an item thus improving forecast quality.
SAF will present its product line from February 10-12, 2009 in Düsseldorf at the EuroCIS, Europe’s leading trade fair for information technology and security in retail.
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