Category: Forecasting

Now that you hopefully understand the forecast process you can start to create one into the future to the end of the “forecast horizon”.  So, is it best to use the quantitative (numbers) method or the qualitative (personal experience & opinion) method?  My personal preference was to use a combination. I would use forecasting tools…
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Continuing on our look into the Forecasting process now we will look at the data you will use. Now that you know the method(s) you will use you have to start to Gather the data you need.  We have covered some of this when discussing the types of forecasting methods (Qualitative or quantitative).  You could…
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Continuing on our look into the Forecasting process now we will look at some forecasting methods. A key decision you will have to make is Choosing what method you will use. Qualitative or quantitative or most likely a mix of both.  Quantitative methods look at historical data.  Qualitative methods look at opinion.  This can be…
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Now that you understand the basic concepts and elements of a forecast let’s look at the process for creating and maintaining such a forecast. Determine what the forecast is for. Determine how far out you will look and what the interval or buckets will be Determine what level of detail the forecast will look at.…
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You might think the first piece of demand we should cover is Customer Orders. Well for most businesses’ forecasts are more important. This is because the lead-time back through the supply chain is so long that you have to plan production based on a forecast of demand rather than actual customer orders.  There are exceptions…
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