Once the usage-based par level settings are established for an item, the par levels can be recalculated by clicking Administration from the FOOD-TRAK Control Console, and on the General tab, click Recalculate Par Levels.
The recalculation can be done for the site par levels or for location par levels. If you select to recalculate the par levels for the Site the system performs the usage calculation for all the items in the site that have a Usage Basis and use those numbers to set par levels for the Site on the Item Editor (Purchasing section). For any purchased item, the system calculates the minimum/maximum par level as the usage for the selected period (Sales plus outbound External Transfers) multiplied by the Supply Level (min)/Supply Level (max), divided by the number of days in the selected period. The system makes no changes to any item with the ”None” option selected for the Usage Basis.
If you select to recalculate the par levels for Profit Center(s) the system performs the calculation for the selected Profit Center(s) and uses the numbers to set par levels for the locations in the selected Profit Center(s) in the Item Editor (Purchasing section). This is defined further as all purchased items that have a Usage Basis and an assigned inventory location in the selected Profit Center(s).
The functionality is enhanced with the ability to specify rounding for the calculations in an ”advanced” function accessed from the Recalculate Par Levels function’s wizard. This dialog would provide options for ”normal (3 decimal places)” and ”whole number”, with ”normal” being the default. Selecting ”whole number” will enable a numeric entry field that allows you to enter a ”next whole number threshold” that specifies the point at which a value is bumped to the next whole number. This field allows the entry of a decimal expression up to 5 digits in length. Digits entered to the left of the decimal point are ignored. Example: entering 0.01 in this field will cause calculated par values whose decimal portion is equal to or in excess of that value to be bumped to the next whole number. Calculated par values whose decimal portion is less than that value would be reduced to their whole number portion. So, given this example, 4.009 would become 4 while 4.02 would become 5.
Par levels are calculated based on usage by location. Usage is considered stock depletion due to outgoing transfers and sales. Usage is multiplied by the Supply Level (min)/Supply Level (max), divided by the number of days in the selected period. The system makes no changes to any item with the ”None” option on the Usage Basis.
Upon completion of the calculation process, the system creates a system message and places an entry in the Alerts list. This entry provides a list of items changed along with their new minimum and maximum par levels in the specific area. If the par level is changed for a location, the location is listed. If the par level is changed for the Site, it will read ”Site”.
Use the Task Scheduler to run the utility once, or schedule it to occur periodically.
For more information on usage-based par levels, review the following topics.
Usage-based par levels for individual items
Global par levels based on usage