Intermittency and obsolescence: A Croston method with linear decay


Prestwich S., TARIM Ş. A., Rossi R.

International Journal of Forecasting, vol.37, no.2, pp.708-715, 2021 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 37 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2021
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.ijforecast.2020.08.010
  • Journal Name: International Journal of Forecasting
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Periodicals Index Online, ABI/INFORM, Business Source Elite, Business Source Premier, EconLit, INSPEC, Public Affairs Index, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.708-715
  • Keywords: Croston's method, Forecasting, Intermittency, Obsolescence
  • Hacettepe University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Only two forecasting methods have been designed specifically for intermittent demand with possible demand obsolescence: Teunter–Syntetos–Babai (TSB) and Hyperbolic-Exponential Smoothing (HES). When an item becomes obsolete the TSB forecasts decay exponentially while those of HES decay hyperbolically. Both types of decay continue to predict nonzero demand indefinitely, and it would be preferable for forecasts to become zero after a finite time. We describe a third method, called Exponential Smoothing with Linear Decay, that decays linearly to zero in a finite time, is asymptotically the best method for handling obsolescence, and performs well in experiments on real and synthetic data.