COMPANIES SAVE MONEY USING INTERMITTENT FORECASTING TECHNOLOGY.

Smart Software, Belmont, Mass., a supplier of enterprise demand planning and forecasting software, has launched SmartForecasts(TM), Version 5.2. The new version features expanded promotion modeling capabilities enabling retailers and others to forecast the impact of item-specific sales promotions and exercise greater control over their product inventories. New, powerful "data scrubbing," multidimensional sorting capabilities, and enhanced OLAP data filtering make database management easier and more efficient. And the ability to access databases in different locations via the World Wide Web improves the ability of users to share information wherever they are and collaborate in their demand planning activities.

"We continue to enhance SmartForecasts in ways that meet the planning needs of our customers," said Charles Smart, president of Smart Software. "Yet SmartForecasts is still easy to learn, install, and integrate with their enterprise systems. Our system provides superior value and a quick return on investment."

SmartForecasts' expanded promotional modeling allows the assignment of unique promotional scenarios for each stockkeeping unit (SKU) in a user's database. SmartForecasts 5.2 not only develops a unique demand forecast for each SKU but also reflects the effects of different promotional scenarios for each warehouse or retail location. During forecasting sessions, adjustments can be made not only for promoted items, but also for SKUs that may be cannibalized by them.

"SmartForecasts lets us adjust for the ups and downs of seasonal demand and for the effects of trade promotions that we offer to retailers," said John Weir, general manager at Tura, a North American distributor of eyeglass frames based in Lake Success, NY. "It also allows us to plan our lead times accordingly and helps ensure that we don't stock out of promoted items or cannibalize our existing product lines."

"Scrubbing" data to clean up its content, together with the sorting of large multidimensional data tables, adds more flexibility to SmartForecasts' database management capabilities. This is especially important in cases where there are many thousands of SKUs to manage and SmartForecasts' Automatic forecasting system is used to plan inventory requirements at the individual SKU level. In addition, SmartForecasts 5.2 now provides greater utility for international users by supporting multi-byte character Microsoft Excel files, such as those created in the Japanese and Chinese versions of Excel.

For retailers and other businesses that experience intermittent, "slow moving" demand for many of their products, SmartForecasts 5.2 can accurately forecast those items to meet designated customer service requirements. Smart's patented intermittent demand forecasting technology can forecast at either the warehouse or store level, permitting retail managers to accurately plan the demand for slow-moving SKUs. This greatly reduces the risk of either over-inflating inventories or stocking out of key items. Companies using the intermittent forecasting technology estimate cost savings of millions of dollars per year.

SmartForecasts Version 5.2 for Windows 95/98/NT/2000 is available now in two configurations. The Enterprise edition can accurately forecast an unlimited number of product items, at a rate of over 100,000 items per hour. The Commercial edition is available for smaller forecasting requirements of up to 1000 items. Both SmartForecasts editions include the new features, plus Send To email for collaborative planning, Automatic Trend Hedging(TM) for forecasting new and aging products, multidimensional data tables, and full Microsoft Excel 97/2000 support. Users of SmartForecasts Enterprise and Commercial also enjoy universal database connectivity, which provides direct access to data in major client/server databases such as Oracle, DB2 and SQL Server, as well as ERP and SCM systems built on those databases. Both OBDC and native database connectivity links are supported. SmartForecasts' patented intermittent demand forecasting is available with the Enterprise edition only.

Smart Software

Founded in 1984, Smart Software, Inc. is a leader in helping businesses accurately forecast and plan enterprise resources. Smart Software's flagship product, SmartForecasts, has thousands of installations worldwide, including many Fortune 500 companies, medium-sized and small businesses. SmartForecasts gives planners the tools to handle seasonality, promotions, new and aging products, multivariate analysis, and intermittent product demand.

For more information, visit http://www.smartcorp.com or call 1-800-SMART-99 or 617-489-2743.