Business Forecasting

The Fifth Edition of Business Forecasting is the most practical forecasting book on the market with the most powerful software'Forecast X. This new edition presents a broad-based survey of business forecasting methods including subjective and objective approaches. As always, the author team of Wilson and Keating deliver practical how-to forecasting techniques, while theory and math are held to a minimum. This edition focuses on the most proven, acceptable methods used commonly in business and government such as regression, smoothing, decomposition, and Box-Jenkins. This new edition continues to integrate the most comprehensive software tool available in this market, Forecast X. With the addition of ForeCastX, this text provides the most complete and up-to-date coverage of forecasting concepts with the most technologically sophisticated software package on the market. This Excel-based tool (which received a 4 point out 5 rating from PC Magazine, Oct. 2, 2000 issue) effectively uses wizards and many tools to make forecasting easy and understandable.Feature : New coverage of Point-of-Sale (POS) data Benefit : This is an important issue with many businesses in their attempt to improve their long and short term planning. Feature : Coverage of forecasting as it relates to supply chain issues has been increased. Benefit : Cutting edge companies, such as Walmart, have shown the importance of establishing strong supply chain relationships and operations. This expanded coverage acknowledges this fact. Feature : New and updated coverage of data mining. Benefit : The importance of data mining as a tool used to deliver more accurate forecasts, resulting in better operations and marketing processes and practices, is widely recognized. Feature : UPDATED Version of Forecast X Software: Developed by John Galt Solutions, Inc. for professional applications, FORECAST X will be updated with the new edition. Benefit : Instructors and students will benefit because the software will add a level of realism to their course. Students will appreciate having to learn software that is actually used in the business community. Feature : All data is provided in EXCEL: Benefit : Excel is the leading calculation software used in business. By provided all the data in Excel, ease of use with FORECAST X software, or any other software, is achieved. Feature : Real-World Data ż The data used in the text Benefit : consists almost entirely of real-world examples. Students will learn to deal with real-life problems and difficulties in a realistic environment. Feature : Extended Examples ż Two żextended examplesż are used in each chapter of the text to demonstrate the progression of techniques used in the text. Benefit : One example is sales data from The Gap, while the other example uses domestic car sales data. These examples will provide a realistic illustration of the concepts that are relevant to the student Feature : Screenshots ż The text includes many screenshots of actual problems; the data for each of these examples and problems is included on the accompanying CD. Benefit : These help students to better conceptualize the problems