CLA Demand Planning & Forecasting

Question 1

Which forecasting method uses the average of a fixed number of most recent periods to predict future demand?

Accepted Answer

Simple moving average

Answer

Exponential smoothing

Answer

Regression analysis

Answer

Delphi method

Question 2

Exponential smoothing forecasting gives more weight to:

Accepted Answer

Recent demand observations compared to older ones

Answer

Seasonal peaks only

Answer

The oldest data in the series

Answer

Expert opinion over historical data

Question 3

Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) measures forecast accuracy by calculating the:

Accepted Answer

Average of absolute differences between actual and forecasted demand

Answer

Percentage of forecasts that were exactly correct

Answer

Maximum error observed in any single period

Answer

Variance of demand around its mean

Question 4

Which component of a demand time series represents consistent upward or downward movement over time?

Accepted Answer

Trend

Answer

Seasonality

Answer

Cyclicality

Answer

Random variation

Question 5

A demand signal from a retail point-of-sale system fed directly to suppliers to trigger replenishment is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Demand-driven replenishment

Answer

Push-based inventory management

Answer

Periodic review system

Answer

Safety stock depletion

Question 6

The Bullwhip Effect in supply chains describes how small changes in end-customer demand lead to:

Accepted Answer

Progressively larger demand fluctuations as orders move upstream in the supply chain

Answer

Smaller order quantities at the manufacturing level

Answer

Reduced lead times across all supply chain tiers

Answer

Improved forecast accuracy at the supplier level