1Demand Planning
the combined process of forecasting and managing customer demands to create a planned pattern of demand that meets the firm's operational and financial goals
2Demand Forecasting
a decision process in which managers predict demand patterns
3Demand Management
a proactive approach in which managers attempt to influence the pattern of demand
4Stable Pattern
a consistent horizontal stream of demands
5Seasonality
regular tendency of demand either upward or downward in a linear or nonlinear fashion
6Shift or Step Change
a one-time change in demand, usually due to some external influence on demand
7Auto Correlation
the correlation of current demand values with past demand values
8Forecast Error
the difference between a forecast and the actual demand
9Grassroot Forecasting
a technique that seeks inputs from people who are in close contact with customers and products
10Executive Judgment
forecasting techniques that use input from high-level experienced managers
11Historical Analogy
a forecasting technique that uses data and experience from similar products to forecast the demand for a new product
12Marketing Research
a forecasting technique that bases forecasts on the purchasing patterns and attitudes of current or potential customers
13Forecast Error
the actual demand minus forecasted demand value for a given time period
14forecast accuracy
the measurement of how closely the forecast aligns with the observations over time
15Forecast Bias
the tendency of a forecasting technique to continually overpredict or underpredict demand
16Mean Percent Error
average error represented as a percentage of demand
17Control Test
what managers use to determine to see if a forecast error is unacceptable
18Tracking Signal
the ratio of a running total of forecast error to MAD that indicates when the pattern of forecast error is changing significantly
19Adaptive Forecasting
a technique that automatically adjusts forecast model parameters in accordance with changes in the tracking signal
20Internet of Things
the network of physical devices that are embedded with sensors, software, and connectivity that enable data exchange and analysis
21Dynamic Pricing
the practice of rapidly adjusting prices to shift demand in a given period
22Big Data
voluminous amounts of info that are easily accesible through interconnected systems
23Social Media
computer mediated tech and systems that enable the generation and sharing of info, ideas, interests, and reviews
24Postponable Products
a product designed so that it can be configured to its final form quickly and inexpensively once actual customer demand is known
25Collaboratively Planning, Forecasting, And Replenishment (CFPR)
a method by which supply chain partners periodically share forecasts, demand plans, and resource plans to reduce uncertainty and risk in meeting customer demand