Forecasting is About More than the Weather

Executive Education is excited to offer three new courses in November. Dr. Matthew Waller, the Garrison Endowed Chair in Supply Chain Management at the Sam M. Walton College of Business, will be teaching these classes focused on Retail Forecasting.

Each of these one-day courses will be taught in a computer lab with sample data sets to analyze. Participants will be given three-ring binders and copies of slides with areas for capturing notes.

Below are the highlights and dates of the programs.

Order Forecasting

November 6

In this course participants will learn how to use good information in shipment and order data and combine it with the information in POS. Each participant will be capable of explaining which forecast measure should be used and will be able to interpret the measure.

Forecasting New Items or New Promotional Interventions

November 13

Sometimes there is insufficient data or unusually large changes are expected. In those cases, the traditional approaches to forecasting are inappropriate. This is often true with new items. It is also true when new promotional interventions are used. In those cases, very uncommon forecasting techniques are required.

POS and Demand Forecasting

November 20

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to determine the appropriate forecasting method and how to apply it. They will also be able to identify errors in existing forecasting approaches. The focus will be on replenished items and will include items with or without trend and seasonality, but we will also consider methods to incorporate promotional activity. Each participant will be capable of explaining which forecast error measure should be used and will be able to interpret the measure. They will also learn to compare forecast accuracies.

For more information, contact our office at (479) 575-2856 or visit our website.