CASE #1 ALTAVOX ELECTRONICS Altavox is a manufacturer and distributor of many electronic instruments and devices, including digital/analog multimeters,

function generators, oscilloscopes, frequency counters and other test equipment and measuring equipment. Altavox sells a line of test meters that are popular with professional electricians. The model VC202 is sold through six distributors to retail stores in the United States. These distributors are located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Los angles and have been selected to serve different region in the country. The Model VC202 has been a steady seller over the years due to its reliability and rugged construction. Altavox does not consider this a seasonal product, but there is some variability in demand. Demand for the product over the past 13 weeks is shown in the following table. Week Atlanta 1 2 4 5 3 5 3 4 4 2 4 3 3 3 7 4 1 2 2 3 5 5 4 4 3 8 4 0 5 5 4 0 4 0 5 5 5 4 6 4 8 5 1 4 6 6 3 0 4 8 7 2 6 4 7 4 7 1 8 5 5 6 2 7 0 4 0 8 5 8 1 8 2 8 6 5 3 5 9 4 7 6 2 2 7 5 5 4 5 1 0 3 7 4 4 9 5 4 3 3 8 1 1 2 3 3 0 3 5 3 8 4 8 1 2 5 5 4 5 4 5 4 7 5 6 13 40 50 47 42 50

3 3 Boston 2 6 Chicago 4 4 Dallas 2 7 Los Angles 3 2

The demand in the regions varies, however this quarters data is pretty close to the demand last quarter. Management would like you to experiment with various forecasting models to determine what should be used in a new system being implemented. The new system can be setup for any of the methods discussed in the book (Chapter 9). In your analysis consider: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Analysis of the data for trends. Overall and individual area demands. Discussion of methods and results of each method evaluated. What is the best forecasting model to use and why? Place supporting data in an appendix.