STEPS IN EXTRACTING

USEFUL INFORMATION
FROM BIG DATA
 QUESTION:
HOW CAN WE DELIVER ORDERS PROMPLY/
IMMEDIATELY ?

DO WE HAVE ENOUGH
FORECASTING PROBLEMS
• THE INSTANT PAPER CLIP OFFICE SUPPLY COMPANY SELLS AND DELIVERS OFFICE SUPPLIES
TO COMPANIES, SCHOOLS, AND AGENCIES WITHIN A 50-MILE RADIUS OF ITS WAREHOUSE. THE
OFFICE SUPPLY BUSINESS IS COMPETITIVE, AND THE ABILITY TO DELIVER ORDERS PROMPTLY
IS A BIG FACTOR IN GETTING NEW CUSTOMERS AND MAINTAINING OLD ONES. (OFFICES
TYPICALLY ORDER NOT WHEN THEY RUN LOW ON SUPPLIES, BUT WHEN THEY COMPLETELY
RUN OUT. AS A RESULT, THEY NEED THEIR ORDERS IMMEDIATELY.) THE MANAGER OF THE
COMPANY WANTS TO BE CERTAIN THAT ENOUGH DRIVERS AND VEHICLES ARE AVAILABLE TO
DELIVER ORDERS PROMPTLY AND THAT THEY HAVE ADEQUATE INVENTORY IN STOCK.
THEREFORE, THE MANAGER WANTS TO BE ABLE TO FORECAST THE DEMAND FOR DELIVERIES
DURING THE NEXT MONTH. FROM THE RECORDS OF PREVIOUS ORDERS, MANAGEMENT HAS
ACCUMULATED THE FOLLOWING DATA FOR THE PAST 10 MONTHS:
A. Compute the monthly demand forecast for February
through November using the naive method
B. Compute the monthly demand forecast for April
through November using a 3-month moving average.
C. Compute the monthly demand forecast for June
through November using a 5-month moving average.
D. Compute the monthly demand forecast for April through
November using a 3-month weighted moving average. Use
weights of 0.5, 0.33, and 0.17, with the heavier weights on the
more recent months.
E. Compute the mean absolute deviation for June through October
for each of the methods used. Which method would you use to
forecast demand for November?

• NAÏVE APPROCH = 36
• 3 MONTH MOVING AVERAGE = 28
• 5 MOVING AVERAGE = 26.8
• 3 MONTH WEIGHTED MOVING AVERAGE = 27.48
DATA SCREENING
• DATA SCREENING BEGINS WITH THE DETERMINATION
OF THE RELEVANCY OF STORED DATA TO INTENDED
DATA USAGE.
• THIS IS BECAUSE SOME DATA WERE COLLECTED AND
STORED BY THE COMPANY NOT NECESSARILY
BECAUSE THEY WOULD BE USEFUL, BUT BECAUSE
THEY HAD TO BE CAPTURED AND KEPT BY
GOVERNMENT OR COMPANY MANDATES.
• AFTER RELEVANT DATA ARE IDENTIFIED, THOSE DATA
SHOULD BE CLEANED BY THE REMOVAL OF ANY
OUTLIERS AND FAULTY DATA.
DATA STANDARDIZATION
• THE MAIN GOAL OF DATA STANDARDIZATION IS TO
MAKE DATA "CONSISTENT" AND "CLEAR."
• BY THAT WE MEAN;
• CONSISTENT - IS ENSURING THAT THE OUTPUT (DATA
ANALYSIS RESULT) IS RELIABLE SO THAT RELATED
DATA CAN BE IDENTIFIED USING A COMMON
TERMINOLOGY AND FORMAT.
• CLEAR - IS TO ENSURE THAT THE DATA CAN BE EASILY
UNDERSTOOD BY THOSE WHO ARE NOT INVOLVED
WITH THE DATA ANALYSIS PROCESS (ORACLE 2015)
DATA ANALYSIS
• THE STEP WHERE WE FIGURE OUT WHAT THE DATA
MEANS BY DESCRIBING, CONDENSING, INSPECTING,
RECAPPING, AND MODELING IT.
• THERE ARE 2 TYPES OF DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS;
• QUALITATIVE APPROACH - AIMS TO DEVELOP
CONCEPTS AND INSIGHTS USEFUL FOR EXPLAINING
NATURAL PHENOMENA FROM HOLISTIC, SPECULATIVE,
AND DESCRIPTIVE VIEWS.
• QUANTITATIVE APPROACH - AIMS TO MAKE SENSE OF
NUMERICAL DATA (NUMBERS) BY EVALUATING IT
MATHEMATICALLY AND REPORTING ITS ANALYSIS
RESULTS IN NUMERICAL TERMS.
THESE ARE FURTHER DIVIDED INTO
DATA REPORTING

• TO CREATE ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS INTO THE ANALYSIS

RESULTS, THE RESULTS SHOULD BE PRESENTED TO
THE INTENDED USERS IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY CAN
BE ACCESSED IN REAL TIME AND BE UNDERSTOOD BY
THE USERS WITHOUT MUCH TECHNICAL EXPERTISE.