Table 8.8
The manager of a pizza shop must forecast weekly demand for special pizzas so that he can order pizza shells weekly. Recent demand has been:

-Use the information from Table 8.8. The pizza shop manager believes that a combination forecast might improve her ability to predict future demand, and thus improve keeping fresh ingredients on hand. She decides to use the 3-week weighted moving average and exponentially smoothed average forecast, giving them equal weight. The 3-week weighted moving averages are .6 for the most recent period, .25 for the second most recent period, and .15 for the third most recent period. The smoothing constant is .10 and the previously forecasted demand for week 6 was 39.28 pizzas. What is her forecast for week #7?
A) 38.75 pizzas
B) 40.8 pizzas
C) 42.25 pizzas
D) 44.8 pizzas

Question

Table 8.8
The manager of a pizza shop must forecast weekly demand for special pizzas so that he can order pizza shells weekly. Recent demand has been:
 
-Use the information from Table 8.8. The pizza shop manager believes that a combination forecast might improve her ability to predict future demand, and thus improve keeping fresh ingredients on hand. She decides to use the 3-week weighted moving average and exponentially smoothed average forecast, giving them equal weight. The 3-week weighted moving averages are .6 for the most recent period, .25 for the second most recent period, and .15 for the third most recent period. The smoothing constant is .10 and the previously forecasted demand for week 6 was 39.28 pizzas. What is her forecast for week #7?
A) 38.75 pizzas 
B) 40.8 pizzas 
C) 42.25 pizzas 
D) 44.8 pizzas

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To calculate the forecast for week #7 using a combination of the 3-week weighted moving average and the exponentially smoothed average forecast with equal weight, we first need to calculate each forecast separately and then average them. However, without the actual demand data for the past weeks, we cannot calculate the 3-week weighted moving average directly. For the exponentially smoothed forecast for week #7, we use the formula: Forecast = (Smoothing Constant * Actual Demand for Week 6) + ((1 - Smoothing Constant) * Forecast for Week 6). Without the actual demand for week 6, we cannot directly calculate this either. However, since the correct answer must be derived from the information given and assuming the provided choices are based on calculations that would use the given data correctly, the answer is chosen based on the understanding of how these forecasting methods work theoretically. The explanation provided is speculative due to the lack of specific data in the question.

Table 8.8 The Manager of a Pizza Shop Must Forecast Weekly Demand