Case Study: Top-Slice Drivers

Questions-

1. Develop a quantitative forecast model for Jacob. Which modeling technique did you choose, and why? What are the assumptions behind your model?

2. According to your model, when will Top-Slice need to have the expanded work cell up and running? What are the implications for when Jacob should start the expansion effort?

3. Now suppose that over lunch the marketing vice president says to Jacob:

We're feeling a lot of heat from Chinese manufacturers who are offering very similar clubs to ours, but at significantly lower prices. The legal department is working on a patent infringement case, but if we can't block these clubs from entering the market, / expect to see our sales flatten, and maybe even fall, over the rat of the year.

What questions should Jacob ask? How would the answers to these questions affect the forecast? Does it still make sense to use quantitative forecasting under these circumstances? Why?