WHAT ROLE DOES FORECASTING PLAY IN THE

SUPPLY CHAIN?
Forecasting plays a big role in supply chain.
Without it, all processes will not be possible.
Forecasting involves predicting the demand,
supply, pricing, and competition in an industry. The
gathered data will be used for the push and pull
processes. In push processes, the manager will
need the data to plan for the activities of the supply
chain such as the production and transportation. In
pull processes, the data will be needed to plan for
the available capacity and inventory levels. With
forecasting, a firm will know how much they will
produce and when to produce. It is essential in
supply chain to do forecast first so that no
resources, time, and effort will be wasted.
GIVE 3 EXAMPLES OF PRODUCTS THAT
DISPLAY SEASONALITY OF DEMAND.
PROVIDE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION.
Before fireworks are banned, it was high in
demand during Christmas and New Year.
Many sellers would display different kinds of
fireworks - from smallest to largest. In just a
day, all boxes are purchased. Christmas and
New Year will not be festive enough without
firework displays. So people always buy as
many as they could for the holidays.
GIVE 3 EXAMPLES OF PRODUCTS THAT
DISPLAY SEASONALITY OF DEMAND.
PROVIDE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION.
Candles and flowers are high in demand
during Halloween. Many people will go to the
cemetery to visit their deceased loved ones.
November 1 and 2 are packed with people
visiting so many sellers would display candles
and flowers.
GIVE 3 EXAMPLES OF PRODUCTS THAT
DISPLAY SEASONALITY OF DEMAND.
PROVIDE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION.
Christmas basket/Christmas gift packages are
high in demand during Christmas season.
Every grocery store display this because many
customers, especially mothers, would
purchased. It is because they can save in
buying all they need in one basket with a
price than buying one by one with different
prices.
WHY SHOULD A MANAGER BE SUSPICIOUS IF A
FORECASTER CLAIMS TO FORECAST HISTORICAL
DEMAND WITHOUT ANY FORECAST ERROR?
A manager should be suspicious if a
forecaster claims to forecast historical
demand without any forecast error
because of the characteristics of forecasts.
One of the characteristics is that forecasts
are always wrong. That is why both the
estimated value of the forecast and a
measure of forecast error should be
included. Forecast accuracy is not always
obtained by most firms because they do
not maintain estimation of forecast error.