Forecasting the inventory levels of an industrial enterprise in conditions of demand volatility

Abstract

The aim of the article is to provide tools for obtaining reliable forecasts of the level of inventories of the enterprise in conditions of volatility in demand for products. Most types of demand for industrial products are unstable, so it is important to form stocks based on demand forecasts to reduce logistics risks. The results of the analyses. Analytical tools for forecasting maximum level of inventories in conditions of volatility of demand for products of machine-building enterprises have been developed, which provides an opportunity to obtain the most reliable sales forecast and estimate the maximum required stocks for a certain type of demand. The method, which is obtained by analytical tools, is based on a three-stage algorithm: a) identification of trends in a time series of sales; b) obtaining optimal sales forecasting models; c) plotting of interval forecasts of product sales and risk assessment of the formation of its maximum stocks. The developed methodology identifies logistics risks, which depend on sales forecasts, for nine machine-building enterprises of Ukraine. A method for statistical assessment of logistics risks of machine-building enterprises by confidence intervals has been developed, in which maximum stocks are determined by two confidence intervals of sales forecasts, and the risk of error is associated with the appropriate levels of reliability of these intervals. It is proposed to build the upper limits of two confidence intervals, for example, 95% and 99%, according to the forecast inventory level estimates, and to consider them as maximum inventory level estimates with corresponding probabilities. The risk of stock shortages is defined as the probability of going beyond the upper limit of the corresponding interval. It is proved that the dynamics of monthly or quarterly sales of enterprises can be typed by four patterns: the presence of seasonal fluctuations and trends; the presence of purely seasonal fluctuations without a pronounced trend; no seasonal fluctuations, but the presence of a trend; no seasonal fluctuations and trends. Conclusions and perspectives for further research. It is proved that the volatility of monthly or quarterly sales volumes of enterprises can be typed by four patterns: 1) the presence of seasonal fluctuations and trends; 2) the presence of purely seasonal fluctuations without a pronounced trend; 3) no seasonal fluctuations, but the presence of a trend; 4) no seasonal fluctuations and trends. Based on this, the theoretical and methodological principles and analytical tools for forecasting the maximum stocks of an industrial enterprise in conditions of demand volatility were improved. Keywords: seasonality, volatility, inventory level forecasting, maximum stocks, demand forecasting.