Patent ID: 7797189

Claim:
A print demand forecasting system for use with a print production system in which multiple print jobs are processed over a selected time interval, comprising: a data collection tool configured to collect print demand data for each print job processed during the selected time interval; mass memory for storing the collected print demand data; and a processing device configured to implement a service manager, wherein the service manager is configured to: determine whether the stored print demand data comprises one or more low variability demand components, wherein each low variability demand component is associated with a demand value that is less than a variability level, pool the low variability demand components to generate a pooled low variability demand component, generate a first demand forecast associated with the pooled low variability demand component, determine whether the stored print demand data comprises one or more high variability demand components, wherein each high variability demand component is associated with a demand value that is greater than the variability level, for each high variability demand component, generate a second demand forecast associated with the high variability demand component, and generate an aggregate forecast by combining the first demand forecast and the second demand forecasts.