My problem is a question, randomly occurring sales of 80 item that make up the same portio

[mel.]

I was doing the books and came across something interesting.
I work in landscaping and have noticed that of the 80 different products we sell, from landscaping stones to gravel. My sales of each item seem to be increasing and decreasing somewhat at random. Though I cannot find any seasonal, cost, or any other reason for that matter, looking at sales over 1 or more years shows that the same amount of items are being sold. At first, I thought that I must have made some simple mistakes or something. The sales information keeps coming out the same, 80 products selling in different amounts, at different times, and to different customers for no reason that I can find producing the same amount of sales over a longer period of time.
My question is, does anyone know of any way to determine which products will be in greater demand and which products will not. This would be of great help as I would not need to keep so much inventory on hand. I do my own bookkeeping, currently use Excel 2007, and have been observing this oddity for some time now.
Anyone got any ideas?
Basically, I just wanted to know if excel has the ability to project sales based on past performances and work backward keeping those sales within norms to show what is most probable.
For example, if one through eighty items looked at over time typically seem to maintain an average of 0.25 or there about. Can excel project all sales for a year or two and work backward to show which of the 80 items are most likely to be sold over the short term?
If this is possible, I do not know what function would do this if any. As I said before, I would like to be able to determine which items have a greater probability of being needed to maintain in inventory those products that are most likely to sell. This would reduce my operating cost and my profits much better.
Thanks in advance

[xladept]

the same amount of items are being sold

Perhaps you could use that fact to advantage??

[mel.]

XLADEPT
Yes, I hope so, I am only trying to reduce my operating costs, and boost returns by not having so much inventory on hand all the time. Unfortunately, I have to keep many things on hand that I know will not sell.

[xladept]

If you're evenly reducing your inventory over a standard period of time then you might be able to plan for it - but you'd need to study the flow??? And, If the same amount are being sold consistently over a period of years then, with that knowledge you could, maybe plan for just 10 or 15 percent overstock - but, you'd need a reliable study on it. A book on budgeting might be enlightening.

[mel.]

XLADEPT,

So far so good.
It is only an interesting oddity, and thus far, it is not causing any problems. I was only wondering if excel has the ability to project sales without some reasonable cause for changes. This may not be the correct forum for this problem, there just does not seem to be one.
I will continue to monitor this oddity for if no other reason curiosity must be served.
Thanks,

[xladept]

Hi Mel,

The way you describe it, it seems as if there is no correlation to work with - your scatterplot would just be a big blob - so observation is the way to go

[mel.]

XLADEPT
Unfortunately, that is what I have been thinking too. I have not had any luck finding anything that could be called a positive correltion. Without that, I cannot think of how excel might be able to do the job. Like I said, it is not the end of the world or anything just an oddity I was looking to figure out.
Thanks for your help though!

[xladept]

Hi Mel,

I'm going to put this thread before the "Big Guns" - maybe another Expert or Guru can help.

[mel.]

XLADEPT,

Thanks, in the meanwhile, I will keep looking for an answer in the observations. My curiosity will not let me leave this alone. I just know that something seems to be teasing me and I must know. It seems sometimes just out of reach, but then at the same time miles away.
Thanks for your consideration of this problem

[FDibbins]

If you have the quantity of sales by item by year, maybe ranking them within each year, and then seeing the comparison year-on-year, might throw some lie on this?

[mel.]

FDibbins,

Though, I cannot find any seasonal, cost, or other reason for the unexplained ups and downs. I have not tried to compare them in this way before. I will try this out and see what results I can find. To current, I have only tried to look at the question in a continuous fashion.

Thanks for the new thoughts will let you know what comes out.