Create Weekly Pattern Arrivals

When you need to convert historical arrival data into a statistical representation of the arrivals. This especially useful for an inbound call center or a service center when the volume is greater than 100 per day, general patterns repeat weekly and more than 26 weeks of data has been collected.

Create weekly pattern arrivals

Where to Find the Model Object

The following model object will be used to create weekly pattern arrivals and import them into ProcessModel:

  • Arrivals \ Create Weekly Pattern Arrivals

Difficulty Level

  • Ease of Use: Easy
  • Ease of Modification: Moderate

How to Use the Model Object

  1. Open Your Model: The model should have at-least one entity.
  2. Insert the Model Object into Your Model: Locate the appropriate location in your model where you would like to place the model object, move the view to the location and then insert the model object.
  3. Create Connections:
    1. Connect the arrival route that ends on the black box to an entity in your model.

      connect arrival route to entity

    2. Create a route from the black box to the rest of your model.

      route form black box to rest of the model

  4. Open the Excel File: Right click on the Weekly Pattern Arrivals Sheet Excel icon and click on the third option from the bottom to open the Weekly Pattern Arrivals vx-x Excel file, where x-x represents the version number of the Excel file.Open Weekly Pattern Arrivals sheet
    Before using this Excel file for the first time, or after changing your model name, make sure that a manual export of data is done via ProcessModel. From your model, click Tools \ Export Data, click ‘Yes’ to all prompts until the data export file opens, close the data file and then use this Excel file.

    Click Enable Content if prompted

    Enable Macro

  5.  Enter Raw Data: Once the Weekly Pattern Arrivals vx-x Excel file opens you should land on the Input worksheet.

    Copy your date and time data and paste into cell A3. You need at least 6 months of data. Use the Excel date and time format, sample data is included.

    Sample data must be removed prior to entry of your data.

    You must provide at-least 24 weeks worth of data

    Have UK dates and time? Use the UK Dates Converter

  6. Prepare Arrival Data for ProcessModel: Click the button titled Prepare Arrival Data for ProcessModel and allow 1 minute for the analysis (depends on the speed of your processor and the size of the file). Once completed you will land on the Same pattern for all days worksheet.

    Follow instructions to install Histogram add-on before using the sheet

  7. Choose Same or Unique Pattern for Days: After preparing your data for ProcessModel, choose one of the following two paths and then goto the relevant worksheet.
    1. Same pattern for all days: When there is nominal difference in the daily pattern between day to day arrivals in the data. Daily volumes will be different.
    2. Unique pattern by day of week: When there is major difference of patterns between days of the week (i.e. Sundays have a daily pattern different from Mondays).

      Choose Same or Unique Pattern for days

  8. Copy Data to ProcessModel: The rest of the instructions will be the same for Same pattern for all days or Unique pattern by day of week.
    1. Copy the data in column B from B5 onwards by pressing the Copy Arrivals button.

      Copy Arrivals Data

    2. Goto ProcessModel and open Stat::Fit via Tools \ Stat::Fit.
    3. Paste the data into Stat::Fit.Paste in Stat-Fit
    4. Fit the data into a distribution by clicking Auto-fit in the toolbar and then OK.

      auto-fit data in stat-fit

    5. Review the acceptable distributions and then click Export from the toolba