Write an article based on this "Compile your results. Analyze your results. Display and discuss your forecast. Monitor and modify your forecast."
Once you have collected your data, create a chart or graph that shows the demand forecast. Do this by crossing your product demand quantity with the upcoming months. For example, if you create a line graph, put the months on the horizontal axis and product demand quantity on the vertical axis. If you forecasted that you will need 600 units in October and 800 in November, then place those points on the graph. Draw a line between the points. You can also plot past data on the graph to compare your research data with historical data. You now have your results tabulated or displayed in an easy to read form, but what do they mean? Look for trends, like growing or declining demand, and cyclicality, like busy seasons or months. Compare your data to that of previous years and see how it stacks up as far as volume and pattern. Look for evidence in the data that your marketing plans are working or have worked in the past. Additionally, go back and determine how exact you believe your forecast to be. Have you been optimistic with your forecast? How large of a margin of error do you expect? Show your forecast to the appropriate people in your company and discuss it with them. Gather input from sales and marketing, finance, production, and all other managers and then revise your forecast. When everyone agrees on the forecast, they can plan a better business strategy. As you gather new data, modify the forecast to reflect this. You want to use all information as it comes to you. If you do not constantly monitor and update your forecast, you can make costly mistakes and it will affect your financial sustainability.