Timedora
Free Practice Quiz Question List

3 Demand Planning and Forecasting Online Quiz Questions

Use this free practice quiz with 20 questions to review 3 Demand Planning and Forecasting, test your knowledge, and prepare for your next test or exam.

20 questions
01
True or false
1 point

True or false: A demand forecast is an informed estimate, not a promise or a target.

  1. A

    True

  2. B

    False

02
Choose one
1 point

A store regularly sells more of an item on weekends than on weekdays. Which demand characteristic does this pattern illustrate?

  1. A

    A steady increase in sales as the product gains customers

  2. B

    Higher sales on weekends that recur each week

  3. C

    A one-time sales spike caused by a product launch

  4. D

    Unpredictable demand changes caused by irregular events

03
Fill in the blank
1 point

To evaluate a time-series forecast by repeatedly training on earlier periods and testing on later ones, use .

04
Choose all
1 point

A retailer is building a causal forecast for next month. Select all statements supported by sound forecasting practice.

  1. A

    Price can be used as a predictor of demand.

  2. B

    A predictor must be available or forecastable for the period ahead.

  3. C

    A correlation between a predictor and demand proves that the predictor causes demand.

  4. D

    A predictor is useful even when its value for the forecast period cannot be obtained or estimated.

05
Choose one
1 point

A company is launching a product with little or no sales history. Which approach is most appropriate for incorporating relevant knowledge about the changing market?

  1. A

    Seasonal naïve forecasting

  2. B

    A moving average using a long history

  3. C

    Expert judgment informed by sales, marketing, and operations

  4. D

    Simple exponential smoothing fitted to many stable historical periods

06
Written response
1 point

Which forecasting method separately smooths the size of nonzero demands and the time between them for an intermittent-demand series?

07
True or false
1 point

True or false: Under the convention that signed error equals actual demand minus forecast demand, a persistent positive bias indicates overforecasting.

  1. A

    True

  2. B

    False

08
Fill in the blank
1 point

When supply cannot satisfy every request, demand managers according to agreed business rules.

09
Written response
1 point

A product has forecast demand of 100 units and actual demand of 120 units. Using the convention et=At−Fte_t=A_t-F_t, what is the signed error in units?

10
Choose one
1 point

A planner is comparing forecasts for an item whose actual demand is zero in some periods. Which statement best explains why MAPE is a poor sole measure for this item?

  1. A

    MAPE is undefined when actual demand is zero, so it should not be the sole measure for intermittent demand.

  2. B

    MAPE reports the typical miss in the original demand units.

  3. C

    MAPE measures average signed error and reveals whether forecasts are too high or too low.

  4. D

    MAPE gives greater influence to large errors by squaring them.

11
Open ended
1 point

A planning team is choosing between two forecasting methods for a decision made three months ahead. Describe a suitable evaluation approach and explain what the team should compare or check so that the results are useful for this decision.

12
Choose one
1 point

A planner is using store sales to estimate consumer demand. Which interpretation best accounts for the difference between point-of-sale sales and shipments to a retailer?

  1. A

    POS sales are closer to consumer purchases, but stockouts may make them understate true demand.

  2. B

    Retailer shipments always measure consumer demand more directly than POS sales.

  3. C

    POS sales cannot be affected by product availability.

  4. D

    A stockout should be treated as evidence that ordinary demand was zero.

13
Choose all
1 point

A retailer and supplier are jointly planning a promotion. Which information would be relevant for them to share to estimate demand and coordinate supply? Select all that apply.

  1. A

    Promotion dates, price, and display plan

  2. B

    Store-level sales history

  3. C

    Inventory and supply constraints

  4. D

    Unrelated personal preferences of individual employees

14
Choose one
1 point

A retailer is preparing an initial forecast for this December and has a clear annual demand pattern. Which time-series method uses the most relevant historical comparison?

  1. A

    Average demand from the most recent four weeks.

  2. B

    Use demand from the corresponding season in the latest cycle.

  3. C

    Use the most recent actual demand, regardless of season.

  4. D

    Estimate demand from price and advertising data.

15
True or false
1 point

Using the convention that signed error is actual demand minus forecast demand, a positive signed error means the forecast was too low.

  1. A

    True

  2. B

    False

16
Choose one
1 point

A planner uses point-of-sale (POS) data to estimate consumer demand. The item was out of stock for several days. Which interpretation is most appropriate?

  1. A

    Retailer shipments always measure consumer purchases more directly than POS sales.

  2. B

    A stockout proves that consumer demand was zero during that period.

  3. C

    POS sales can understate demand when the product is out of stock.

  4. D

    POS sales should be excluded whenever a retailer carries inventory.

17
Choose one
1 point

A service part has many periods with no demand, and its occasional orders are irregular. Which approach is specifically suited to this intermittent pattern?

  1. A

    Use a short moving average, which is designed to handle many zero-demand periods.

  2. B

    Consider Croston’s method, which separately estimates nonzero demand size and the interval between demands.

  3. C

    Use MAPE as the sole measure and select the method with the lowest value.

  4. D

    Treat every zero-demand period as a stockout and replace it with an average.

18
Written response
1 point

What method separately smooths the size of nonzero demands and the time between them to estimate intermittent demand?

19
Choose one
1 point

A planner wants to evaluate a time-series forecasting method without using future observations to predict the past. Which procedure best meets this requirement?

  1. A

    Repeatedly train on earlier periods and test on later periods.

  2. B

    Randomly mix all periods into training and test sets.

  3. C

    Fit the method using the entire series, then test it on the same periods.

  4. D

    Test only on the earliest periods and train on later periods.

20
Written response
1 point

For a forecast of 100 units and actual demand of 85 units, calculate the signed error using et=At−Fte_t=A_t-F_t. Enter the result in units.