| Causal relationship | A situation in which one event causes another. If the event is far enough in the future, it can be used as a basis for forecasting.
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| Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) | An Internet tool to coordinate forecasting, production, and purchasing in a firm's supply chain.
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| Dependent demand | Requirements for a product or service caused by the demand for other products or services. This type of internal demand does not need a forecast, but can be calculated based on the demand for the other products or services.
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| Exponential smoothing | A time series forecasting technique in which each increment of past demand data is decreased by (1 - α).
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| Focus forecasting | An approach to forecasting in which several different techniques are tried in a computer simulation and the best technique or combination of techniques is used to make the actual forecast.
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| Independent demand | Demand that cannot be directly derived from the demand for other products.
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| Linear regression forecasting | A forecasting technique that assumes that past data and future projections fall around a straight line.
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| Mean absolute deviation (MAD) | The average forecast error using absolute values of the error of each past forecast.
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| Smoothing constant alpha (α) | The parameter in the exponential smoothing equation that controls the speed of reaction to differences between forecasts and actual demand.
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| Smoothing constant delta (δ) | An additional parameter used in an exponential smoothing equation that includes an adjustment for trend.
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| Time series analysis | A type of forecast in which data relating to past demand are used to predict future demand.
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| Tracking signal | A measure that indicates whether the forecast average is keeping pace with any genuine upward or downward changes in demand.
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