Quick Summary: Supersessions link an old item to a new one so that the new item can inherit the old item’s sales history. This produces a reliable forecast for new and young items, prevents unwanted orders for discontinued items, and helps consolidate remaining stock and open orders during product transitions.
Why Supersessions Matter
New and young stocked items often have little or no sales history. Without history, the system cannot generate reliable forecasts, which increases the risk of stock outs, excess stock, or repeated manual intervention.
Discontinued or end-of-life items can continue to receive unwanted replenishment recommendations unless they are set to non-stocked or obsolete.
Where new items are replacing old items, both items often require manual adjustment to maintain optimal inventory levels, which can become onerous and lead to errors if not managed carefully.
Supersessions solve both problems by linking items together and giving the new item access to the old item’s demand history, while ensuring the old item is discontinued correctly.
How Supersessions Work
A supersession link is created between a new item (parent) and an old item (child).
Once linked:
The new item inherits the old item’s sales history and uses it to generate a reliable forecast.
The old item is automatically set to Non-stocked.
Remaining stock on hand and open orders may be consolidated to the new item.
Forecasting for the new item requires minimal manual intervention.
A factor defines how many units of the superseded item relate to one unit of the new item. For most items the factor is 1, but exceptions occur.
Example:
If the old item sold in packs of 12 and the new item sells in packs of 6, the factor ensures that the old item’s sales history is converted correctly into the new unit of measure.
Practical Application
Suppose a New item (ST9502) is replacing an Old item (ST9503).
When a supersession is implemented:
The old item’s sales are removed from its own sales history.
As remaining stock of the old item sells down and the new item begins to sell, the app combines both demand streams on the new (parent) item.
This combined history drives the forecast for the new item.
Example:
New item (Parent): ST9502
Old item (Child): ST9503
Important: Supersessions cannot be used for substitutions where two items are sold interchangeably.
Viewing Supersession Links
When an item participates in a supersession, a tick appears under the Supersedes heading.
Clicking the tab displays the full supersession chain.
Hovering over the connecting line reveals the factor used in the relationship.
How To Implement Supersessions
Supersessions can be supplied to the app in one of two ways. Only one method should be used.
Product master file (master.csv)
Column 6: Superseded item code
Column 7: Superseded item factor (Quantity of old product that represents 1 unit of the new product.)
Supersessions file (supersessions.csv)
Column 1: Old product code
Column 2: New product code
Column 3: Factor (Quantity of new products that represent 1 unit of the old product.)
Notes:
Only one of the two methods may be used.
If multiple old items are replaced by a single new item, Option 2 must be used because it provides the required flexibility.
⚠️ Watchouts
Supersessions are not substitutions: Only use supersessions when one item replaces another permanently, not when two items are interchangeable.
Factor accuracy matters: An incorrect factor will distort the inherited sales history and may drive incorrect forecasts.
💡 Tips
Use supersessions early: Implement the link as soon as the new item is introduced to stabilise forecasts.
Confirm discontinuation: Ensure the old item is set to Non-stocked so that no unwanted replenishment orders are generated.
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