Calculate using forecasting methods

a. 3 week moving average

b. Historical average method

c. Exponential smoothing

d. Weighted moving average

e. Naive method

(Alpha value between 0-1)

Solve.

The UNIVERSITY BoOKSTORE STUDENT ties up the bookstore's cash reserves, it also takes up limCOMPUTER PURCHASE Program ited storage space and limits inventories for other bookstore products during the bookstore's busiest sales period. T. Because the bookstore has such a low profit margin on he University Bookstore is owned and operated by computers, its bottom line depends on these other products. State University through an independent corporation with Because competition for good students has increased, the its own board of directors. The bookstore has three loca- university has become very quality conscious and insists tions on or near the State University campus. It stocks a that all university facilities provide exemplary student serrange of items, including textbooks, trade books, logo vice, which for the bookstore means meeting all student apparel, drawing and educational supplies, and comput- demands for computers when fall semester starts. The ers and related products, including printers, modems, and number of computers ordered also affects the number of software. The bookstore has a program to sell personal temporary warehouse and bookstore workers who must be computers to incoming freshmen and other students at a hired for handling and assisting with PC installations. The substantial educational discount, partly passed on from number of truck trips from the warehouse to the bookstore computer manufacturers. This means that the bookstore each day of fall registration is also affected by computer just covers computer costs, with a very small profit margin sales. remaining. The bookstore student computer purchase program has Each summer all incoming freshmen and their parents been in place for 14 years. Although the student populacome to the State campus for a 3-day orientation program. tion has remained stable during this period, computer sales The students come in groups of 100 throughout the sum- have been somewhat volatile. Following are the historimer. During their visit the students and their parents are cal sales data for computers during the first month of fall given details about the bookstore's computer purchase pro- registration: gram. Some students place their computer orders for the fall semester at this time, whereas others wait until later in the summer. The bookstore also receives orders from returning students throughout the summer. This program presents a challenging management problem for the bookstore. Orders come in throughout the summer, many only a few weeks before school starts in the fall, and the computer suppliers require at least 6 weeks for delivery. Thus, the bookstore must forecast computer demand to build up inventory to meet student demand in the fall. The student computer program and the forecast of computer demand have repercussions all along the bookstore supply chain. Develop an appropriate forecast model for bookstore The bookstore has a warehouse near campus where it must management to use to forecast computer demand for next store all computers because it has no storage space at its fall semester and indicate how accurate it appears to be. retail locations. Ordering too many computers not only What other forecasts might be useful to the bookstore