© 2008, Business Forecast Systems, Inc.

Opt-in Survey of Trends e-Newsletter Readers 24 Completed Surveys The Survey Investigated: -Which departments or functional areas actively participate in developing new product forecasts and whether one specific department or area has the final say on new product forecasts -The importance of judgment versus quantitative approaches to new product forecasting -The methods or approaches used for new product forecasting -Satisfaction with new product forecast performance/accuracy Original Survey and Trends Archive Available at:

© 2008, Business Forecast Systems, Inc. The survey indicates that participation in new product forecasting tends to involve a significant number of departments/functional areas.

© 2008, Business Forecast Systems, Inc. It is very common for companies to have one department which has final say on the new product forecast. Most often this is Marketing, but only in about 1/3 of the companies.

© 2008, Business Forecast Systems, Inc. Judgment is clearly seen as the most important component in new product forecasting. Not one company reported the quantitative component as the most important.

© 2008, Business Forecast Systems, Inc.

While some companies have a very high percentage of products each year that are new, for most the percentage is 20% or less. Most companies are not pleased with new product forecast performance/accuracy.

© 2008, Business Forecast Systems, Inc. Additional Resources Twice-per-year forecasting conference offering forecasting education, practitioner case studies and applied research in forecasting Web Site for Foresight: The International Journal of Applied Forecasting The University of Tennessees Sales Forecasting Management Forum’s On-Line Library: Downloadable PDFs of Articles and Papers on a Wide Range of Forecasting Topics International Institute of Forecasters Web Site