As we have seen you have many choices on how to set up your data for use in Forecast Pro. The purpose of this lesson was to introduce you to some of the options available to you and to point out some of the pitfalls (particularly as they pertain to zero vs. missing values).

It is very important that your data is read into Forecast Pro properly. After you have created a historic data file for use in Forecast Pro, a strong recommendation is to read it into Forecast Pro and examine the data carefully.

• Does the data hierarchy being displayed in the Navigator match your expectations?
• Do the demand histories start and stop when you expected them to?
• Are there any discontinued items and if so, was that expected?
• Are their items with leading zeroes and if so, are they being read in properly?
• Are their items with trailing zeroes and if so, are they being read in properly?
• Are there items with valid zero-demand periods and if so, are they being read in properly?
• Are there any settings that are required to make sure the data read in properly? If so, can I adjust the data file so that it’s not reliant on the settings?

The quality of your forecasts is directly impacted by the accuracy of your data, so investing some time in making sure your data is properly formatted and reading in correctly is time well spent.

This concludes the Data Considerations lesson.