ABSTRACT
This chapter examines best practices in forecasting, the methods available to the forecaster and analytic tools that can be used across forecasting methodologies. It presents the forecasting process for products in the pharmaceutical industry. The step in the forecasting process is to understand the use to which the forecast will be directed. A process focus to forecasting implies that organisational 'buy-in' to the forecast is a key requirement. Organisations that rely heavily on this approach to forecasting are trapped in a technical trench. Where that balance point exists, however, is more a function of an organisation's culture than it is of forecasting best practices. Many of the elements of Michael Schrage's criticisms are relevant to the pharmaceutical industry, where the ubiquitous tool of choice for forecasting is spreadsheet modelling. As with the balance between the process and the technical elements or forecasting, there is a similar balance in selecting a forecast methodology.
