Team from left to right : Wayne Nesbitt, Rajdeep Mondal, Hugh
Watson, David Maddox, and Lili Zhao.
1. Standard Procedures
The following section summarizes the standard features of Planners Lab software.
1.1 Opening a model
After launching the software, one can either create a new model or open an existing one
A new model opens with a default node under it
1.2 Operations with nodes
Any node can be renamed by double clicking on it or highlighting it and clicking the
“Rename” icon
A new node can be added below the model or below any existing node by highlighting
the model and the node respectively.
A node can be duplicated along with all contents using the “Duplicate” icon.
A node can be deleted using the “Delete” icon.
1.3 Defining columns and equations in nodes
Columns can be defined by specifying a range of values or discrete values. In the
example below, the range 2007-2010 corresponds to 4 columns and Total is a discrete
column. A special column is a column definition that applies to all columns. In this
example, Total is a special column that shows the sum of all columns in each row.
Equations are defined following the syntax rules. Column variable can be defined as
constants or in terms of other column variables.
The “Validate Model” helps check syntax of the equations. The “Playground” button
shows the data in tabular and other graphical formats and also has tools to analyze the
data.
2 Tutorial Example
The tutorial is intended to familiarize the users with the basic and some advanced features
of Planners Lab software.
The tutorial simulates a basic problem in financial analysis, namely Break Even Analysis.
Any product development involves two types of cost. Fixed cost is the initial investment
cost and is the cost that is incurred regardless of the number of units within a given range.
Variable cost is the additional cost incurred to produce each unit. The goal of Break Even
Analysis is to determine the number of units that has to be produced to cover the Fixed
Cost and Variable Cost.
The columns are defined as years from 2007 to 2010 with a special column, Total, that
gives the summation of all columns across each row. The average column gives the
average of the columns across each row. The current year is 2007 and 2008 to 2010 are
the forecasted years in our analysis.
The node Cost defines the following variables:
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Fixed Cost = 1000
Variable Cost Per Unit = TRIRAND(10,15,20)
Variable Cost = Variable Cost Per Unit * Units IN Revenues
Total Cost = Variable Cost + Fixed Cost
The variable Units is defined in the node Revenues and used in the node Cost. The node
Revenues has the following variable definitions:
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Units = 40, PREVIOUS*1.1
Sale Price = 25 FOR 2, 30
Total Revenue = Units * Sale Price
COMMENT Sales Price increases after year two because of changes in marketing
strategy
Comments can be added in the equation using the COMMENTS keyword.
Finally, the node Profits define profit as the difference between revenues and cost:

Profit = Total Revenue IN Revenues - Total Cost IN Cost
The modeling screens do not show the variables in a node that are referred to from other
nodes. In this case the profits are shown as zeroes in all the columns since profits is
defined in terms of revenues and cost that are not defined in the same node.
2.1 Analysis Mode
The Playground button takes the user to a view where data from all nodes are aggregated
and available for analysis.
The variables are added into the table view by dragging them from the model tree on the
left.
With the assumptions of cost per unit, sale price per unit and unit sales, profits are
negative in the current year (2007) as well as in the forecast horizon (2008-2010).
2.1.1 What If and Goal Seek
In this tutorial, goal seek analysis will be used to forecast the unit sales that will lead the
company to break even with respect to revenues and costs.
A new tab is created in the playground by clicking on the “+” icon. The “Goal Seek” and
“What If” charts are dragged from the icons at the top and added to the tab space.
As can be seen, with the current growth estimate for unit sales, in the goal seek chart,
profits are negative across the forecast horizon. Now, the unit sales in what if chart will
be adjusted (by dragging with the mouse) in order to bring the profits to break even, that
is zero level.
After adjusting the unit sales upwards in the what if chart, the profits break even.
The changes can be applied back to the model by clicking the “Apply To Model” button.
The software asks for confirmation and notifies status.
The units and profit values are adjusted in the table view. It shows almost zero profit in
2010.
The Revenues node in modeling screen is also adjusted with the newly forecasted units.
2.1.2 Risk Analysis
A Monte Carlo simulation can be used to understand the expected profit when the
number of units sold is a probabilistic variable (a triangular distribution in this tutorial).
In order to simulate the random nature of sales, the number of units is defined as a
random number between 10, 15 and 20 –
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Variable Cost Per Unit = TRIRAND(10,15,20)
The Monte Carlo simulation gives the probability distribution of output against each year.
2.1.3 Variable Tree
Sticky notes can be added to a screen to any of the screens. A variable tree gives a view
of the dependency between variables.
2.1.4 Impact Analysis
The impact analysis tool is used to visualize the impact of the ‘what if’ variables on the
goal variable.
Lili Zhao, Wayne Nesbitt, Rajdeep Mondale, and David Maddox, graduate students at the
University of Georgia, prepared this tutorial.