Time Series Plot for Visualize Months On Hand and Forecast Months On Hand

Use Time Series Plot to visualize trends in months of available inventory. Then you can choose between single exponential smoothing and double exponential smoothing to forecast months on hand inventory.

This example applies to the Supply Chain Module. For more information, go to www.minitab.com/supply-chain-module.

Example

Months on hand is the number of months of available inventory that exists if no new purchases are made and sales continue as forecasted. To calculate months on hand inventory, divide the value of the inventory by the cost of goods sold. Then multiply by the number of months in the time period.

In this worksheet, Months on Hand is the graph variable in time order.

C1
`Months on Hand`
1.73
1.64
3.4
2.5

How-to

Choose Solutions Modules > Functions > Supply Chain KPIs, then select Launch.
Under Inventory, select Months on hand.
Select Visualize months on hand or Forecast months on hand, then click OK.
Select Time Series Plot, then click OK.
In Series (desktop app) or Y-variable (web app), enter the column that contains the months of inventory data.
Click OK.

Tip

For more information about this analysis, click Help in the main dialog box.