Removing Systematic Bias from Demand Forecasts

Abstract

This chapter examines the use of mathematical programming to remove systematic bias from demand forecasts. A debiasing methodology is developed and applied to demand data from an actual service operation. The accuracy of the proposed methodology is compared to the accuracy of a well-known approach that utilizes ordinary least squares regression. Results indicate that the proposed method outperforms the least squares approach.

Citation

Utley, J. (2011), "Removing Systematic Bias from Demand Forecasts", Lawrence, K.D. and Klimberg, R.K. (Ed.) Advances in Business and Management Forecasting (Advances in Business and Management Forecasting, Vol. 8), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 3-12. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1477-4070(2011)0000008004