Attached to this assignment, you will find REAL LIFE data on two product shipments,for the overall industry manufacturing these products.One tab of the Excel spreadsheet deals with two kinds of lawn mowers: Walk-behind mowers, and zero-turn radius mowers. The other tab is dishwashers. imagine you have been hired as a consultant to a company that makes these products, to advise them on how many they can expect to sell over the next two years. (Which is exactly how *I* got this data, actually.)

use this data - PLUS any other data you feel it is appropriate to bring in to compare it to.

You might find this website very useful to download GDP, Consumer Price Index, Unemployment, and other stats to match this monthly shipment data I have provided:https://fred.stlouisfed.org/

(Hint: Here is FRED'schart of unemployment, monthly - just like the shipment data. Notice that "download" button there? Then you could theoretically match this up with the shipment months...https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE ) You could also use for other measures listed on the FRED site if you were so inclined.

Look at the forecasting techniques listed on chapter 5, and on page 145 in section 5-3 of the text.This is a time series of data for product sales over a series of years.

Using at least TWO DIFFERENT forecasting methods, I want you to forecast sales through 2016 and 2017 for the two types of mowers,and then for dishwashers. Clearly explain your forecasting methods, and why you chose that technique in your Excel spreadsheet. Analyze and explain your results, and tell why this could be very important to the manufacturer who hired you.

What would you tell them about demand patterns in the near future? Should the build a new factory, or scale back production? Why? What data and evidence do you have to back up your claims?

This one is pretty involved, so I'll put a lot of points on it.