Question: Use the following guidelines when creating forecasts: Evaluate potential methods that align with your data. Use the last 18 months as validation data with trend-based
Use the following guidelines when creating forecasts:
Evaluate potential methods that align with your data.
Use the last 18 months as validation data with trend-based models.
Optimize parameters in trend-based models.
When using simple exponential smoothing, set = 0.05 and round the actual data for the first month to the nearest hundred to seed your forecast column.
For moving averages, use 3 months
Use the following table of yearly forecasted demand for seasonality indices
| NORTH AMERICA | SOUTH AMERICA | EUROPE | PACIFIC | |
| MOWERS | 95000 | 4500 | 11000 | 3700 |
| INDUSTRY MOWERS | 87000 | 9000 | 255000 | 25000 |
| INDUSTRY TRACTORS | 156000 | 43000 | 81000 | 16000 |
DATA- INDUSTRY MOWER TOTAL SALES
| Month | NA | SA | Eur | Pac | World |
| Jan-17 | 60000 | 571 | 13091 | 1045 | 74662 |
| Feb-17 | 77184 | 611 | 17679 | 1111 | 96585 |
| Mar-17 | 77885 | 658 | 22759 | 1068 | 102369 |
| Apr-17 | 86190 | 778 | 27966 | 1237 | 116171 |
| May-17 | 96117 | 886 | 27895 | 1313 | 126210 |
| Jun-17 | 97143 | 882 | 30566 | 1176 | 129768 |
| Jul-17 | 84757 | 848 | 29444 | 1359 | 116409 |
| Aug-17 | 79804 | 735 | 28364 | 1238 | 110141 |
| Sep-17 | 64800 | 657 | 28393 | 1215 | 95065 |
| Oct-17 | 59307 | 595 | 24444 | 1154 | 85500 |
| Nov-17 | 52157 | 553 | 18000 | 1262 | 71972 |
| Dec-17 | 45049 | 462 | 12453 | 1386 | 59349 |
| Jan-18 | 58627 | 553 | 12778 | 1443 | 73401 |
| Feb-18 | 76200 | 615 | 18214 | 1515 | 96545 |
| Mar-18 | 82871 | 658 | 23889 | 1373 | 108791 |
| Apr-18 | 84904 | 784 | 29455 | 1442 | 116584 |
| May-18 | 93100 | 846 | 29464 | 1215 | 124625 |
| Jun-18 | 93000 | 838 | 27414 | 1333 | 122585 |
| Jul-18 | 83048 | 763 | 27368 | 1415 | 112594 |
| Aug-18 | 74854 | 694 | 27321 | 1296 | 104164 |
| Sep-18 | 60769 | 625 | 29444 | 1402 | 92241 |
| Oct-18 | 55619 | 610 | 23774 | 1468 | 81470 |
| Nov-18 | 48155 | 571 | 17308 | 1351 | 67386 |
| Dec-18 | 42647 | 512 | 12941 | 1389 | 57489 |
| Jan-19 | 57885 | 537 | 10962 | 1509 | 70892 |
| Feb-19 | 77647 | 595 | 15273 | 1402 | 94917 |
| Mar-19 | 81845 | 659 | 20556 | 1524 | 104583 |
| Apr-19 | 86095 | 756 | 26786 | 1574 | 115211 |
| May-19 | 91776 | 878 | 24828 | 1468 | 118949 |
| Jun-19 | 100680 | 825 | 24737 | 1560 | 127801 |
| Jul-19 | 86190 | 756 | 24828 | 1441 | 113216 |
| Aug-19 | 71887 | 714 | 25179 | 1545 | 99325 |
| Sep-19 | 60000 | 651 | 24545 | 1667 | 86863 |
| Oct-19 | 55566 | 643 | 19286 | 1698 | 77193 |
| Nov-19 | 50857 | 619 | 15273 | 1810 | 68558 |
| Dec-19 | 42596 | 548 | 9107 | 1731 | 53982 |
| Jan-20 | 58095 | 581 | 8571 | 1887 | 69135 |
| Feb-20 | 75566 | 614 | 13158 | 1845 | 91182 |
| Mar-20 | 80286 | 622 | 19655 | 1923 | 102486 |
| Apr-20 | 85140 | 727 | 25179 | 1981 | 113027 |
| May-20 | 90093 | 826 | 23103 | 1810 | 115832 |
| Jun-20 | 95472 | 783 | 24286 | 1942 | 122482 |
| Jul-20 | 87308 | 681 | 24737 | 1961 | 114686 |
| Aug-20 | 74476 | 646 | 26607 | 2000 | 103729 |
| Sep-20 | 61698 | 625 | 22982 | 2075 | 87381 |
| Oct-20 | 57238 | 617 | 16897 | 2019 | 76771 |
| Nov-20 | 50673 | 587 | 13750 | 2095 | 67105 |
| Dec-20 | 51238 | 591 | 7818 | 2150 | 61797 |
| Jan-21 | 59712 | 563 | 7547 | 1852 | 69673 |
| Feb-21 | 77961 | 571 | 13889 | 1743 | 94165 |
| Mar-21 | 83725 | 625 | 18302 | 1892 | 104544 |
| Apr-21 | 90297 | 723 | 25192 | 2037 | 118250 |
| May-21 | 91143 | 848 | 24706 | 1887 | 118583 |
| Jun-21 | 99320 | 792 | 25306 | 1944 | 127363 |
| Jul-21 | 93922 | 745 | 27083 | 2170 | 123919 |
| Aug-21 | 73143 | 739 | 26042 | 2037 | 101961 |
| Sep-21 | 66699 | 667 | 26304 | 2018 | 95688 |
| Oct-21 | 56476 | 660 | 22558 | 2072 | 81766 |
| Nov-21 | 51068 | 625 | 14773 | 2182 | 68648 |
| Dec-21 | 46893 | 608 | 6977 | 2035 | 56510 |
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