Suppose the following data is given in the table below:

Year enrollment

2016 20,000

2017 21,100

2018 22,000

2019 23,500

a) Compute initial values for the a and b and use all data for initialization.

b) Forecast the enrollment for 2020.

c) If the enrollment during the year of 2020 is 24,100, find the updated a and b values and forecast enrollment for 2021 respectively. Assume, alpha = .1 beta = .2, You must use exponential smoothing method with a trend to forecast the enrollment for part c.

d) Would it be reasonable to use the EOQ to determine demand structure for this item? Justify your answer.