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Forecasting demand variation when there are stockouts

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  • P C Bell

    (Richard Ivey School of Business)

Abstract

This paper addresses the common problem of forecasting demand when there are a large number of stockouts. The well-known single period stochastic inventory (or ‘newsboy’) problem provides the optimum, single period, stocking level for a product subject to stochastic demand. There are many situations where repetitive ‘newsboy’ solutions are implemented to guide stocking of repeat, but related, products, such as newspapers, magazines, or perishable groceries. Implementation of the ‘newsboy’ solution requires forecasts of the distribution of demand, although there are many plausible cost parameters that lead to optimum stocking policies where there is a high probability of a stockout. The company is, therefore, faced with the problem of attempting to forecast demand when a high percentage of the available sales data reflects the stock available for sale, rather than the true demand. A procedure has been developed1 to improve estimates of the mean and variance of the distribution of demand when there are stockouts, but this procedure fails when the percentage of stockouts increases above 50%. A modified stockout adjustment procedure is presented in this paper, and it is shown that use of this new procedure can lead to greatly improved estimates of demand parameters, and greatly improved profitability, when there are a high percentage of stockouts.

Suggested Citation

  • P C Bell, 2000. "Forecasting demand variation when there are stockouts," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 51(3), pages 358-363, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:jorsoc:v:51:y:2000:i:3:d:10.1057_palgrave.jors.2600877
    DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2600877
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Chiang, Chung-Yean & Qian, Zhuang & Chuang, Chia-Hung & Tang, Xiao & Chou, Chia-Ching, 2023. "Examining demand and supply-chain antecedents of inventory dynamics: Evidence from automotive industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    2. Kevork, Ilias S., 2010. "Estimating the optimal order quantity and the maximum expected profit for single-period inventory decisions," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 38(3-4), pages 218-227, June.
    3. Mostard, Julien & Teunter, Ruud & de Koster, René, 2011. "Forecasting demand for single-period products: A case study in the apparel industry," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 211(1), pages 139-147, May.
    4. Halkos, George & Kevork, Ilias, 2012. "Validity and precision of estimates in the classical newsvendor model with exponential and rayleigh demand," MPRA Paper 36460, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Halkos, George & Kevork, Ilias, 2012. "Evaluating alternative estimators for optimal order quantities in the newsvendor model with skewed demand," MPRA Paper 36205, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Gardner, Everette Jr., 2006. "Exponential smoothing: The state of the art--Part II," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 637-666.
    7. Halkos, George & Kevork, Ilias, 2011. "Non-negative demand in newsvendor models:The case of singly truncated normal samples," MPRA Paper 31842, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Gregory A. Godfrey & Warren B. Powell, 2001. "An Adaptive, Distribution-Free Algorithm for the Newsvendor Problem with Censored Demands, with Applications to Inventory and Distribution," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(8), pages 1101-1112, August.

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