FORECASTING

Forecast
•Consists of two words “Fore” (before) and “Cast” (to project)
•A statement about the future value of a variable of interest
•Forecasts are the basis for budgeting, planning capacity, sales, production and
inventory, personnel, purchasing etc.
• Marketing
✔ Pricing and promotion
✔ Global competition strategies
• Operations
✔ Schedules
✔ Work assignments and workloads
✔ Inventory Planning
✔ Make or buy decisions
✔ Outsourcing
• Product/Service design
✔ Revision of current features
✔ Design of new products and services
❑ Timely
❑ Accurate
❑ Consistent
❑ Meaningful units
❑ In written form
❑ Simplicity
Steps in the forecasting process
The complex nature of most real-world variables makes it almost impossible to correctly predict
future values of those variables on a regular basis.
Because random variation is always present, there will always be some residual error, even if all
other factors have been accounted for.
Decision makers will want to include accuracy as a factor when choosing among different
techniques, along with cost.
Some forecasting applications involve a series of forecasts (e.g., weekly revenues), whereas others
involve a single forecast that will be used for a one-time decision (e.g., the size of a power plant)
When making periodic forecasts, it is important to monitor forecast errors to determine if the errors
are within reasonable bounds. If they are not, it will be necessary to take corrective action.
 Approaches to forecasting
There are two general approaches to forecasting:
•Qualitative forecasting techniques
✔ consist mainly of subjective inputs
✔ often defy precise numerical description
✔ permit inclusion of soft information (e.g., human factors, personal opinions,
hunches) in the forecasting process
•Quantitative forecasting techniques
✔ involve either the projection of historical data or the development of associative
models that attempt to utilize causal (explanatory) variables to make a forecast
✔ consist mainly of analyzing objective, or hard data
✔ avoid personal biases that sometimes contaminate qualitative methods
 Typical forecasting techniques
• Judgmental forecasts
✔ rely on analysis of subjective inputs obtained from various sources, such as consumer surveys,
the sales staff, managers and executives, and panels of experts
✔ Quite frequently, these sources provide insights that are not otherwise available
• Time-series forecasts
✔ simply attempt to project past experience into the future
✔ these techniques use historical data with the assumption that the future will be like the past
✔ some models identify specific patterns in the data and project or extrapolate those patterns into
the future, without trying to identify causes of the patterns
• Associative models
✔ use equations that consist of one or more explanatory variables that can be used to predict
demand
✔ demand for paint might be related to variables such as the price per gallon and the amount spent
on advertising, as well as to specific characteristics of the paint (e.g., drying time, ease of
cleanup)
 Qualitative techniques
• Executive opinions
✔ a small group of upper-level managers (e.g., in marketing, operations, and finance) may meet and
collectively develop a forecast
✔ this approach is often used as a part of long-range planning and new product development
✔ there is the risk that the view of one person will prevail, and the possibility that diffusing responsibility for
the forecast over the entire group may result in less pressure to produce a good forecast
• Salesforce opinions
✔ members of the sales staff or the customer service staff are often good sources of information because of
their direct contact with consumers
✔ staff members may be unable to distinguish between what customers would like to do and what they
actually will do
✔ staff members are sometimes overly influenced by recent experiences
• Consumer surveys
✔ organizations seeking consumer input usually resort to consumer surveys, which enable them to sample
consumer opinions
✔ The obvious advantage of consumer surveys is that they can tap information that might not be available
elsewhere
 Qualitative techniques
• Consumer surveys
✔ skill is required to construct a survey, administer it, and correctly interpret the results for valid information
✔ Surveys can be expensive and time-consuming
• Other approaches
• Delphi method
✔ an iterative process in which managers and staff complete a series of questionnaires, each developed
from the previous one, to achieve a consensus forecast
✔ the Delphi method is useful for technological forecasting, that is, for assessing changes in technology
and their impact on an organization
✔ often the goal is to predict when a certain event will occur
 Forecasts based on time series data
A time series is a time-ordered sequence of observations taken at regular intervals (e.g., hourly, daily, weekly,
monthly, quarterly, annually)

• Trend
✔ refers to a long-term upward or downward
movement in the data
✔ Population shifts, changing incomes, and cultural
changes often account for such movements
 Forecasts based on time series data
• Seasonality
✔ refers to short-term, fairly regular variations
generally related to factors such as the
calendar or time of day
✔ Restaurants, supermarkets, and theaters
experience weekly and even daily
“seasonal” variations
• Cycles
✔ are wavelike variations of more than one
year’s duration
✔ These are often related to a variety of
economic, political, and even agricultural
conditions
 Forecasts based on time series data
• Irregular variations
✔ are due to unusual circumstances such as severe weather conditions, strikes, or a major change
in a product or service
✔ they do not reflect typical behavior, and their inclusion in the series can distort the overall
picture
✔ Whenever possible, these should be identified and removed from the data

• Random variations
✔ are residual variations that remain after all other behaviors have been accounted for
 Techniques for averaging
✔ Averaging techniques smooth variations in the data.
✔ Ideally, it would be desirable to completely remove any randomness from the data
and leave only “real” variations, such as changes in the demand.
✔ Averaging techniques smooth fluctuations in a time series because the individual
highs and lows in the data offset each other when they are combined into an average.
✔ A forecast based on an average thus tends to exhibit less variability than the original
data.
✔ responding to changes in expected demand often entails considerable cost (e.g.,
changes in production rate, changes in the size of a workforce, inventory changes).
✔ larger variations are viewed as
✔ more likely to reflect “real” changes, although these, too, are smoothed to a certain
degree
Techniques for averaging
 Techniques for averaging
Three techniques for averaging are described in this section:
1. Moving average.
Technique that averages a number of recent actual values, updated as new
values become available
2. Weighted moving average.
More recent values in a series are given more weight in computing a forecast
3. Exponential smoothing.
Exponential smoothing is a sophisticated weighted averaging method that is
still relatively easy to use and understand.
Compute a weighted average forecast using a weight of .40 for the most recent period, .30
for the next most recent, .20 for the next, and .10 for the next.
 Forecast error
Forecast error is the difference between the value that occurs and the value that was
predicted for a given time period. Hence, Error = Actual – Forecast

e t = At – Ft

Where, t =Any given time period

Three commonly used measures for summarizing historical errors:

•Mean absolute deviation (MAD)
•Mean squared error (MSE)
•Mean absolute percent error (MAPE)
Forecast error
 Monitoring the forecast
✔ Control chart A visual tool for monitoring forecast errors.
✔ A very useful tool for detecting non-randomness in errors.
✔ Errors are plotted on a control chart in the order that they occur.
✔ Basic elements of control chart
❖ Center Line (CL)
❖ Upper Control Limit (UCL)
❖ Lower Control Limit (LCL)
Fig: Control chart
Fig: Non randomness in control chart
 Associative forecasting technique
Predictor variables Variables that can be used to predict values of the variable of
interest.
Regression Technique for fitting a line to a set of points.
Least squares line Minimizes the sum of the squared vertical deviations around the
line.
Associative forecasting technique
Associative forecasting technique
 Associative forecasting technique
✔ Correlation A measure of the strength and direction of relationship between two
variables.
✔ Correlation can range from + 1.00 to -1.00.
✔ The correlation between two variables can be computed using the equation

✔ The square of the correlation coefficient, r2 , provides a measure of the percentage of

variability in the values of y that is “explained” by the independent variable.
✔ The possible values of r2 range from 0 to 1.00.
✔ The closer r2 is to 1.00, the greater the percentage of explained variation.
Linear trend equation
Linear trend equation
Linear trend equation
 Naïve methods
A forecast for any period that equals the previous period’s actual value.
•The naive approach can be used with a stable series (variations around an average), with
seasonal variations, or with trend
•with a stable series, the last data point becomes the forecast for the next period
•With seasonal variations, the forecast for this “season” is equal to the value of the series
last “season.”
• for data with trend, the forecast is equal to the last value of the series plus or minus the
difference between the last two values of the series.

Advantages of naïve method:

•It has virtually no cost
•It is quick and easy to prepare because data analysis is nonexistent
•It is easily understandable