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Please predict whether this patent is acceptable.PATENT ABSTRACT: An image forming apparatus includes a replacement time predicting circuit, a variation determining circuit, and a replacement time adjusting circuit. The replacement time predicting circuit periodically predicts, based on a consumption trend, a replacement time of a consumption article starting from a time when a replacement article is ordered, the replacement time being a time when a non-consumption amount of the consumption article is equal to or less than a specific replacement threshold. The variation determining circuit determines a variation of each later-predicted replacement time from a replacement time that is predicted when the replacement article is ordered, each later-predicted replacement time being predicted after the replacement article is ordered. The replacement time adjusting circuit, in response to the variation determined by the variation determining circuit, changes the consumption trend of the consumption article so as to reduce or eliminate the variation.