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Related Content: MGT613 - VU Lectures, Handouts, PPT Slides, Assignments, Quizzes, Papers & Books of Production & Operations Management

FORECASTING

Forecasting demand is like forecasting weather .Sometimes the forecast or prediction fails completely and sometimes its near the predicted value but still not the exact value. Often scientists call forecasting as an educated guess, but even then forecasting helps us to plan our trips and journeys and most importantly we as farmers make use of forecasting to plant, harvest and take precautionary measures.

Forecasting in business forms the basis for budgeting and planning for capacity, sales, production, inventory, manpower, purchasing and more.

Forecasting allows the manager to anticipate the future so then can plan accordingly. Introduction

There are two major uses for forecasts. One is to help the Operations Manager plan the system and the other one is to help him plan the use of the system. These are important concepts different distinct but at the same time closely lined.
Planning the system refers to planning long term plans about the type of products or services to offer, what facilities and equipment to have, where to locate and so on and so forth. Planning the use of the system relates to short range and intermediate range planning which means planning inventory workforce resources, planning of purchasing and production activities, budgeting and scheduling etc.

Thus it can be said that planning the systems more of a job of a senior manager, birds eye view and has ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY in it where as planning the use of the system is an OPERATIONAL STRATEGY

Business Forecasting is more than just predicting demand. Forecasting is also used to predict profits, revenues, costs, productivity changes, prices and availability of energy and raw materials, interest rates, movements of key economic indicators (GNP, inflation and government loans) and prices of stocks and bonds.

Forecasting is not an exact science. Even with the availability of computers, and algorithms, its unable to make an exact prediction it requires Experience, Managerial Judgment and Technical expertise. General Responsibility lies with the Marketing workforce but to this day not a single marketing forecast has been created without the valuable contribution of the Operations side.

Read more: MGT613 - Production / Operations Management - Lecture Handout 07

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Related Content: CS605 - VU Lectures, Handouts, PPT Slides, Assignments, Quizzes, Papers & Books of Software Engineering II

Software Process and Project Metrics

Everyone asks this question: how do I identify the problem? The answer is measure your process. Measurement helps in identification of the problem as well as in determining the effectiveness of the remedy.

Measurement is fundamental for providing mechanisms for objective evaluation of any process or activity. According to Lord Kelvin:

Read more: CS605 - Software Engineering II - Lecture Handout 12