Demand Forecasting
Use WoPora's demand forecasting to predict staffing needs and create smarter rosters.
Demand Forecasting
Demand Forecasting helps you predict how many staff you need on any given day or shift, and generates scheduling suggestions based on those predictions. Navigate to Dashboard -> Demand Forecast.
What is Demand Forecasting?
Demand forecasting uses your historical data or manual inputs to project future staffing requirements. The result is a recommended roster that you can review, adjust, and publish. This reduces under-staffing (poor service) and over-staffing (unnecessary labour cost).
Configuring Demand Data
- Go to Dashboard -> Demand Forecast -> Configure
- Choose the demand metric for your business:
Headcount--- Directly input how many staff you need per time blockRevenue / Sales--- Enter predicted sales; WoPora calculates staff neededCustomer volume--- Enter expected customer count; WoPora calculates staff needed
- For revenue/volume-based inputs, set your staff-to-demand ratio
- Set your minimum and maximum staffing thresholds per shift type
- Save
Entering Demand Forecasts
- Go to Dashboard -> Demand Forecast
- Select the week you want to forecast
- For each day, enter the expected demand
- The system calculates the recommended headcount for each time block
- Click Save Forecast
Generating Roster Suggestions
Once demand is entered:
- Click Generate Suggestions
- WoPora produces a draft roster based on demand, employee availability, leave, and award constraints
- Review the suggested roster in the preview
- Click Accept Roster to push it to the Scheduling module as a draft
- Adjust the draft and publish
Forecast vs Actual
After a week passes, the Forecast vs Actual report shows how predictions compared to what actually happened. Use this to improve your forecasting inputs over time.
Weather Context
WoPora overlays real-time weather data from your Locations onto the demand forecast view to help you anticipate demand spikes or drops for outdoor or weather-sensitive businesses.