Question: Ace Hardware sells spare parts for lawn mowers. The following data were collected for one week in May when replacement lawn-mower blades were in high demand:

a. Simulate a forecast for the week, starting with F₁ = 10, T₀ = 2, α = .2, and β = .4. Use the trend model given in the chapter supplement.

b. Compute the MAD and tracking signal for the data. Use MAD₀ = 0.

c. Are the MAD and tracking signal within tolerances?

d. Simulate a forecast using simple smoothing for the week, starting with F₁ = 10 and α = .2. Plot the forecast and the demand on a graph. Note how the forecast lags behind demand.