Fore casting of demand is the art
of predicting demand for a product or a service at some future date on the
basis of certain present and past behavior patterns of some related events.
According to Condit and Still”
Sales forecast is an estimate of sales during a specified future period which
is tied to a proposed marketing plan and which assumes a particular set to
uncontrollable and competitive forces.
Accurate demand forecasting is
essential for a firm to enable it to produce the required quantities at the
right time and to arrange well in advance for various inputs. Forecasting helps
a firm to assess the probable demand for its products and plan its production
accordingly.
Usefulness
Forecasting of demand plays a
vital role in the process of planning and decision making whether at the
national level or at the level of a firm. The importance of demand forecasting
has increased all the more on account of mass production and production in
response to demand. No useful business planning can be done without proper
estimates of demand forecast. It would not be an exaggeration to say that all
business planning starts with forecasting of demand because capital investment
production scheduling etc has to be related with the expected demand. Although
it is said no forecast is completely fool proof and correct but the very
process of forecasting helps in evaluating various forces which affect demand
and is in itself a reward because it enables the forecasting authority to know
about various forces relevant to the study of demand behavior.
Scope of Forecasting
Forecasting can be at the
international level depending upon the area of operation of given economics
institution. It can also be confined to a given product or service supplied by
a small firm in local area. The scope of work will depend upon the area of
operation in the present and proposed in future. Much would depend upon the
cost and time involved in relation to the benefit of the information acquired
through the study of demand. The necessary trade off has to be struck between
the cost of forecasting and the benefits flowing such forecasting.
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