Explanatory Notes on Consumable Request Triggers
Lower Threshold
The purpose of the lower threshold setting is very simple – if a consumable level is found at or below the lower threshold value and there is no existing request for it, a Low level request is generated
Upper Threshold and Lead Time
At levels above the lower threshold, the triggering of a consumable request is based entirely upon the predicted runout time (estimated days before empty) versus the configured lead time. To avoid triggering a request too early in a supply's life, the runout test is only performed once the level is below the configured upper threshold + 10%. The 10% buffer is automatically added to enable the system to catch rapid use events – in the below discussion it will be called Rapid use threshold.
When the test is performed, if the predicted runout in days is less than or equal to the lead time, the system will generate a consumable request:
▪if the toner level is at or below the upper threshold, the request reason is recorded as Lead time
▪if the consumable level is above the upper threshold, the request reason is recorded as Rapid use.
As an example, if the upper threshold is set to 25%, there will be no requests for any supplies at a level above 35%, regardless of predicted lead time.
Increasing the lead time setting will result in requests being raised earlier. Reducing it will result in requests being raised later. It is important to remember that not all supplies behave in a predictable manner.
Sudden level drops due to increased printing demand cannot be predicted in advance, and some supplies do not report a smooth decrease in level through their lifetime.
It is currently impossible to entirely remove the predicted runout vs lead time trigger for requests. If the lead time is set to 0, this will minimise its effect, but it will still trigger some rapid use requests above the upper threshold in cases where a consumable's predicted runout is less than a day. Setting the lower threshold to the same level as the upper threshold will avoid most runout-triggered requests occurring and give a simple request at X% behaviour.
Again, this will not stop some rapid use requests being generated with the system-added 10% buffer above the threshold, but this is a good feature operationally, since otherwise these rapid use requests would arrive too late.
Further information
Configure Consumables Management