Patent attributes
Systems and methods for forecasting print demand are disclosed. Print demand data is collected and stored for each print job processed during a selected time interval, and processed with a computer implemented service manager to obtain a first demand series with multiple demand components and a second demand series with one demand component. Each of the multiple demand components is less than, and the one demand component is greater than, a selected variability level. The service manager is adapted to (1) generate a first demand related forecast with a combination of the multiple demand components, and (2) use a neural network to generate a second demand related forecast with the one demand component. The neural network includes multiple neurons optimally weighted with respect to print-related demand data collected over selected time intervals. The number of neurons is optimized to improve forecasting accuracy and re-optimized after a selected time interval.
