Best

Forecasting
Time Series
My Introduction
Name: Bharani Kumar

Educa+on: IIT Hyderabad
Indian School of Business

Professional cer+fica+ons:
PMP Project Management Professional
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© 2013 ExcelR Solutions. All Rights Reserved
My Introduction
4 DATA SCIENTIST
RESEARCH in
ANALYTICS, DEEP
LEARNING & IOT
3
2 DeloiHe
Driven using US policies
1 Infosys
Driven using Indian policies under Large enterprises
ITC Infotech
Driven using Indian policies SME
HSBC
Driven using UK policies

AGENDA
Why Forecas4ng
Learn about the various examples of
forecasHng
EDA & Graphical Forecas4ng Strategy

Forecas4ng Representa4on Learn about decomposing, forecasHng
Strategy & combining
Forecas4ng
Decomposi4on EDA & Graphical Representa4on
components Learn about exploratory data analysis,
scaKer plot, Hme plot, lag plot, ACF plot
Why
ng?
Forecas4
Forecas4ng components
Learn about Level, Trend, Seasonal,
Cyclical, Random components
Forecas4ng Models & Errors

AGENDA Learn about various forecasHng
models to be discussed & the various
error measures
Why Forecasting
•  Why forecast, when you would know the outcome eventually?
•  Early knowledge is the key, even if that knowledge is imperfect
–  For seQng producHon schedules, one needs to forecast sales
–  For staffing of call centers, a company needs to forecast the demand for service
–  For dealing with epidemic emergencies, naHons should forecast the various flu

Types of forecast
Short Term Micro Scale

or Long Term or Macro Density
Scale Point Forecast
Forecast
Interval
Forecast
Forecas4ng
Classifica4on
Qualita4ve or
Quan4ta4ve
Data or
Judgment

Who generates Forecast?

Who generates Forecast?

Time series vs Cross-sectional data
01 Cross-sec4onal Data
02
Time Series Data

Dataset for further discussion Month Footfall in thousands
Jan-91 1709
Feb-91 1621
Mar-91 1973
Apr-91 1812
May-91 1975
Jun-91 1862
Jul-91 1940
Aug-91 2013
Sep-91 1596
Oct-91 1725
Nov-91 1676
Dec-91 1814
Jan-92 1615
Feb-92 1557
Mar-92 1891
Apr-92 1956
May-92 1885
Jun-92 1623
t = 1, 2, 3,…....= Hme period index

Yt = value of the series at Hme period t
Monthly FooWalls of customers from
Jan 1991 to March 2004 Yt+k = forecast for Hme period t+k, given
data unHl Hme t
et = forecast error for period t
Forecasting Strategy
01 Define Goal
02 Data Collec4on
03 Explore & Visualize Series
04 Pre-Process Data
05 Par44on Series
06 Apply Forecas4ng Method(s)
07 Evaluate & Compare Performance
08 Implement Forecasts / System

Forecasting Strategy – Step 1
#1 Is the goal descriptive or
#2 What is the forecast horizon?
predictive?
• DescripHve = Time Series • How far into the future? k in Yt+k

Analysis
• Rolling forward or at single Hme
• PredicHve = Time Series point?
ForecasHng
Define
#3 How will the forecast be used? Goal #4 Forecasting expertise &
automation
• Who are the stakeholders? • In-house forecasHng or
consultants?
• Numerical or event forecast?

• How many series? How ofen?
• Cost of over-predicHon &

under-predicHon • Data & sofware availability
Forecasting Strategy – Step 2
#1 Data Quality #2 Temporal Frequency
• Typically small sample, so need • Should we use real-Hme Hcket
good quality collecHon data?
• Data same as series to be • Balance between signal & noise
forecasted • AggregaHon / DisaggregaHon
Data
Collec-on
#3 Series Granularity? #4. Domain exper4se
• Coverage of the data – • Necessary informaHon source
Geographical, populaHon, Hme,… • Affects modeling process from start
• Should be aligned with goal to end
• Level of communicaHon/
coordinaHon between forecasters &
domain experts

Forecasting Strategy Step3 (Explore Series)
Season
al
Addi4ve: Mul4plica4ve:
PaHern

s
Yt = Level + Trend + Seasonality + Noise Yt = Level x Trend x Seasonality x Noise
Trend NON-SYSTEMATIC PART

Level

Seasonal Noise
PaHerns
SYSTEMATIC
PART

Trend Component
•  Persistent, overall upward or downward paKern
•  Due to populaHon, technology etc.
•  Overall Upward or Downward Movement
•  Several years duraHon
Response
Mo., Qtr., Yr.

Seasonal Component
•  Regular paKern of up & down fluctuaHons
•  Due to weather, customs etc.
•  Occurs within one year
•  Example: Passenger traffic during 24 hours
Summer
Response
Mo., Qtr.

Irregular/Random/Noise Component
•  ErraHc, unsystemaHc, ‘residual’ fluctuaHons
•  Due to random variaHon or unforeseen events
–  Union strike
–  War
•  Short duraHon & nonrepeaHng

Time Series Components

Time Plot
•  Plots a variable against Hme index
•  Appropriate for visualizing serially collected data (Hme series)
•  Brings out many useful aspects of the structure of the data
•  Example: Electrical usage for Washington Water Power

(Quarterly data from 1980 to 1991)

Time plot
Electrical power usage for Washington Water Power: 1980-1991

1100
1000
Power usage (KilowaHs)
900
800
700
600
500
400
1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990
Year

Observations
•  There is a cyclic trend
•  Maximum demand in first quarter; minimum in third quarter
•  There may also be a slowly increasing trend (to be examined)
•  Any reasonable forecast should have cyclic fluctuaHons
•  Trend (if any) need to be uHlized for forecasHng
•  Forecast would not be exact – there would be some error

Time plot

Quarterly Sales of Ice-cream

Scatter Diagram
•  Plots one variable against another Cost Age

•  One of the simplest tools for visualizaHon 859 8
682 5
471 3
  Example: Maintenance cost and Age
708 9
for nine buses (Spokane Transit)
1094 11
224 2
  This is an example of cross-secHonal 320 1
data (observaHons collected in a single 651 8
point of Hme) 1049 12

Scatter Plot
1200
Yearly cost of maintenance (US $)
1000
800
600
400
200
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Age of bus

Observations
•  Older buses have higher cost of maintenance
•  There is some variaHon (case to case)
•  The rise in cost is about $ 80 per year of age
•  It may be possible to use ‘age’ to forecast maintenance

cost
•  Forecast would not be a ‘certain’ predicHon – there would

be some error

Lag plot
•  Plots a variable against its own lagged sample
•  Brings out possible associaHon between successive samples
•  Example: Monthly sale of VCRs by a music store in a year
= Number of VCRs sold in Hme period t

= Number of VCRs sold in Hme period t – k

Example of lagged variables
Number of VCRs sold in a month
Time Original Lagged one step Lagged two steps

1 123
2 130 123
3 125 130 123
4 138 125 130
5 145 138 125
6 142 145 138
7 141 142 145
8 146 141 142
9 147 146 141
10 157 147 146
11 150 157 147
12 160 150 157
Lag plot (k = 1)
ScaHer plot of VCR sales with 1-step lagged VCR sales

160
155
150
145
140
135
130
125
120
120 125 130 135 140 145 150 155 160

Observations
•  There is a reasonable degree of associaHon

between the original variable and the lagged one
•  Value of lagged variable is known beforehand, so

it is useful for predicHon
•  AssociaHon between original and lagged variable

may be quan+fied through a correlaHon

Autocorrelation
•  CorrelaHon between a variable and its lagged
version (one Hme-step or more)

= ObservaHon in Hme period t
= ObservaHon in Hme period t – k
= Mean of the values of the series
= AutocorrelaHon coefficient for k-step lag

Standard error of rk
•  The standard error is
The standard error of the mean esHmates the
variability between samples whereas the
standard deviaHon measures the variability within
a single sample.
•  Increases progressively with k, but eventually reaches a

maximum value
•  If the ‘true’ autocorrelaHon is 0, then the esHmate rk should

be in the interval (– 2SE(rk), 2SE(rk)) 95% of the Hme
•  SomeHmes SE(rk) is approximated by

Correlogram or ACF plot
•  Plots the ACF or AutocorrelaHon funcHon (rk)

against the lag (k)
•  Plus-and-minus two-standard errors are

displayed as limits to be exceeded for staHsHcal
significance
•  Reveals lagged variables that can be potenHally

useful for forecasHng

Correlogram for VCR data

ACF plot for electricity usage data

Observations
•  Every alternate sample is large, many of them
staHsHcally significant also
•  ACFs at lags 4, 8, 12, etc are posiHve
•  ACF at lags 2,6,10 etc are negaHve
•  All these pick up the seasonal aspect of the data
•  The data may be re-examined afer ‘removing’

seasonality
ACF of de-seasoned KW data

Observations
•  De-seasoned series has small ACFs
•  This part of the data has liKle forecasHng value

Typical questions in exploratory analysis
Is there a TREND?
All the plots contain

informaHon regarding
these quesHons
Is there a
Are the data
SEASONALITY?
RANDOM?

Time series plots

Effect of omission of data on the
Time series plot

Effect of omission of data on the
Time series plot

Confusing kind of trend due to other type
of scaling
80
80
60
60
40
40
y
y
20
20
0
0
0 5 10 15 20 0 1 2 3
t Log t
4.5
4.5
3 3.5 4
3.5 4
Log y
Log y
3
2.5
2.5
0 5 10 15 20 0 1 2 3
t Log t

Few points on Plots
Plot helps us to summarize & reveal paKerns

in data
Graphics help us to idenHfy anomalies in data
Plot helps us to present a huge amount of data in

small space & makes huge data set coherent
To get all the advantages of plot, the “Aspect RaHo”

of plot is very crucial
The raHo of Height to Width of a plot is called

the ASPECT RATIO

Aspect Ratio
•  Generally aspect raHo should be around 0.618
•  However, for long Hme series data aspect raHo should be

around 0.25. To understand the impact of aspect raHo see the
two plots in the next two slides

Aspect ratio

Aspect ratio

Preliminaries for Step 3 of 8-Step forecasting strategy
Should we use all
? historical data for Solu4on = DATA PARTIONING
forecas4ng
Fit the model only to

Training Data
TRAINING period
Valida4on Data Assess performance on
VALIDATION period

Partitioning
Deploy model by joining Training + ValidaHon to forecast the Future

How to choose a Validation Period?
Forecast Seasonality
Horizon
Strategy to choose
Valida4on Data
Period
Length of Underlying
series condi4ons
affec4ng series
Rolling-forward forecasts

NAÏVE Forecasts
Forecast method: Last sample

k-step ahead Ft+k = Yt

Seasonal series ( M series ) Ft+k = Yt-M+k

Forecast error
•  Forecast error is

•  If model is adequate, forecast error should contain no informaHon
•  Plots of et should resemble that of ‘white noise’ or uncorrelated random
numbers with 0 mean and constant variance
(There should be NO PATTERN)

Forecast error
•  Forecast error can follow different distribuHons based on business context

Forecasting Errors

Evaluating Predictive Accuracy
•  Mean error
•  Mean absolute deviation
•  Mean squared error
•  Root mean squared error
•  Mean percentage error
•  Mean absolute percentage error

Typical plots of ‘White noise’
Time plot
Lag plot
ACF plot
Histogram

Mean error (ME)
•  If the ME is around zero, forecasts are called unbiased. Model
is unbiased to overestimation or the underestimation. Certainly
this is a desirable property of a model
Actual data Forecast based Error from Forecast based Error from
on Model 1 model 1 on Model 2 model 2
100 101 1 110 10
200 199 -1 190 -10
300 301 1 310 10
400 399 -1 390 -10
ME 0 0

Mean error
•  Mean error has the disadvantage that small amount and
large amount of error may have same effect
•  To overcome this problem we may define two different

forecast performance measure
•  1. Mean Absolute DeviaHon:
•  2. Mean Square Error:

MAD & MSE
Actual data Forecast based Error from Forecast based Error from
on Model 1 model 1 on Model 2 model 2
100 101 1 110 10
200 199 -1 190 -10
300 301 1 310 10
400 399 -1 390 -10
MAD 1 10
MSE 1 100
ME 0 0

Problem with ME, MAD, MSE
•  All these three measures are not unit free and also not scale free
•  Just think of a case that one is forecasHng sales figures. Someone

in India using rupee figure, and somebody else in USA is expressing
the same sales figure in dollar. Both are using the same model.
However forecast measure will differ. This is a very awkward
situaHon
•  MSE has the added disadvantage that its unit is in square. RMSE
does not have this added disadvantage
•  So we need unit free measure

MPE and MAPE---Unit free measure
•  Both expressed in percentage form
•  Both are unit free

Last Sample: Number of customers requiring repair work
Customers Fitted value Residual

Y_t e_t |e_t| e_t^2 e_t/Y_t |e_t/Y_t|
58
54 58 -4 4 16 -0.07407 0.074074
60 54 6 6 36 0.1 0.1
55 60 -5 5 25 -0.09091 0.090909
62 55 7 7 49 0.112903 0.112903
62 62 0 0 0 0 0
65 62 3 3 9 0.046154 0.046154
63 65 -2 2 4 -0.03175 0.031746
70 63 7 7 49 0.1 0.1
MAD MSE RMSE MPE MAPE
4.25 23.5 4.85 0.0203 0.0695
Forecast method: Last sample

MA: Number of customers requiring repair work
Customers Fitted Residual
Y_t value e_t |e_t| e_t^2 e_t/Y_t |e_t/Y_t|
58
54
60
55 57.3333 -2.3333 2.3333 5.4444 -0.0424 0.0424
62 56.3333 5.6667 5.6667 32.1111 0.0914 0.0914
62 59.0000 3.0000 3.0000 9.0000 0.0484 0.0484
65 59.6667 5.3333 5.3333 28.4444 0.0821 0.0821
63 63.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
70 63.3333 6.6667 6.6667 44.4444 0.0952 0.0952
MAD MSE RMSE MPE MAPE
3.83 19.91 4.46 0.0458 0.0599
Forecast method: 3-point moving average

Challenges
Zero Counts
Missing values MAE/RMSE: no problem
Cannot compute MAPE
Compute average metrics
Exclude Zero count
Exclude missing values
Use alternate measure - MASE


Forecast / Prediction Interval
1
Probability of 95% that the
value will be in the range [a,b]
2
If the forecast errors are normal, predic4on
interval is
σ = es4mated standard devia4on of forecast errors
k = some mul4ple
(k=2 corresponds to 95% probability)
Challenges to formula
3
• Errors ofen non-normal
• If model is biased (over/under-forecasts), symmetric interval around Ft+k?
• EsHmaHng the error standard deviaHon is tricky

One soluHon is transforming errors to normal

Forecast / Prediction Interval – Non-Normal
To construct predicHon interval for 1-step-ahead forecasts
1. Create roll-forward forecasts (Ft+1) on validaHon period
2. Compute forecast errors
3. Compute percenHles of error distribuHon
(e(5)=5th percenHle; e(95)=95th percenHle)
4. PredicHon interval:
[ Ft+1 + e(5) , Ft+1 + e(95) ]
In Excel =percen+le

5th percenHle = -307.0
95th percenHle = 292.8

95% predicHon interval for 1-step ahead forecast Ft+1:
[Ft+1 – 307 , Ft+1 + 292.8]
Forecasting Different Methods
•  Linear regression

•  Autoregressive models
•  ARIMA Model Data •  Naïve forecasts
•  Smoothing
• 
• 
LogisHc regression
Econometric models
based driven •  Neural nets

Forecasting Different Methods
Linear Model: Yt = βo + β1t + ε
ExponenHal Model: Log (Yt) = βo + β1t + ε
QuadraHc Model: Yt = βo + β1t + β2t2 + ε

AddiHve Seasonality: Yt = βo + β1DJan + β2DFeb + β3DMar + …...+ β11DNov + ε
AddiHve Seasonality with QuadraHc Trend:

Yt = βo + β1t + β2t2 + β3DJan + β4DFeb + β5DMar + …...+ β13DNov + ε

MulHplicaHve Seasonality:
Log (Yt) = βo + β1DJan + β2DFeb + β3DMar + …...+ β11DNov + ε

Irregular Component
Irregular Components Solutions
• Outliers • Remove unusual periods

from the model
• Special Events
• Model separately
• Interventions
• Keep in the model, using
dummy variable
External Information
Airfaret = b0 + b1 (Petrol Price)t + e
ForecasHng Airline Fuel price impacts
Ticket Price the airline Hcket Must be forecasted

Sales(t) =
ForecasHng Amount spend in g{ f(sales(t-1, t-2, ... , t-6),
Internet Sales adverHsements a1*SQRT[AdSpend(t-1)] + ... +
a6*SQRT[AdSpend(t-6)] }

Linear Regression for forecasting
1 2 3
Global Trend Seasonality Irregular PaHerns

•  Linear Trend •  AddiHve (Y)
(constant growth)
•  ExponenHal Trend •  MulHplicaHve
(% growth) log(Y)
Autoregressive (AR) Models
•  AR model is used to forecast errors
•  AR model captures autocorrelaHon directly
•  AutocorrelaHon measures how strong the values of a Hme series are related to
their own past values
•  Lag(1) autocorrelaHon = correlaHon between

(y1, y2, …, yt-1 ) and (y2,y3,…, yt)
•  Lag(k) autocorrelaHon = correlaHon between

(y1, y2, …, yt-k) and (yk+1,yk+2,…,yt)

Autocorrelation & its uses
Check forecast errors for
independence
Model remaining Evaluate

information predictability

Autoregressive Model
•  MulH-layer model
•  Model the forecast errors, by treaHng them as a Hme series
•  Then examine autocorrelaHon of “errors of forecast errors” ?

ü  If autocorrelaHon exists, fit an AR model to the forecast errors series
ü  If autocorrelated, conHnue modeling the level-2 errors (not pracHcal)
•  AR model can also be used to model original data

Yt = α + β1Yt-1 + β2Yt-2 + εt -> AR(2), order = 2

1-step ahead forecast: Ft+1 = α + β1Yt + β2Yt-1
2-steps ahead: Ft+2 = α + β1Ft+1 + β2Yt
3-steps ahead: Ft+3 = α + β1Ft+2 + β2Ft+1
Autoregressive Model

•  Use level 1 to forecast next value of series Ft+1
^
•  Use AR to forecast next forecast error (residual) Et+1
•  Combine the two to get an improved forecast F*t+1

^
F*t+1 = Ft+1 + Et+1

Random Walk
•  Specific case of AR(1) model
•  If β1 = 1 in AR(1) model then it is called as Random Walk

•  EquaHon will be Yt = a + Yt-1 + εt
a = drif parameter
σ(std of ε) = volaHlity

•  Changes from one period to the next are random
•  How to find out whether there in random walk to not in the data?
•  Run AR(1) model & check for the value of β1
•  Do a differenced series and run ACF plot
•  How to esHmate drif & volaHlity?

Random Walk
•  One-step-ahead forecast: Ft+1 = a + Yt
•  Two-step-ahead forecast: Ft+2 = a + Yt+1= 2a + Yt
•  k-step-ahead forecast : Ft+k = ka + Yt
•  If the drif parameter is 0, then the k-step-ahead forecast is Ft+k = Yt for all k

Model based approaches & drawbacks

Model vs Data based approaches
Model Based Approach
01
Past is SIMILAR to
Future
Data Based Approach

02
Past is NOT SIMILAR
to Future

Forecast methods based on smoothing
There are two major forecasHng techniques based on smoothing
•  Success depends on
–  Moving averages choosing window width
•  Balance between over &
under smoothing
–  ExponenHal smoothing

Smoothing – Moving Average
•  Forecast future points by using an average of several
Smoothing past points

Noise •  More suitable for series with no Trend & no seasonality
•  A Hme-plot of the MA reveals the

Data Level & Trend of a series

ForecasHng 4 uses VisualizaHon •  It filters out the seasonal &
random components
Removing Seasonality
& CompuHng seasonal
indexes
Moving Average - Calculations
Centered Moving Average Trailing Moving Average
It is calculated based on a It is calculated based on
window centered around a window from Hme ‘t’ &
Hme ‘t’ backwards
6000
5250
4500
Sales
3750
3000
2250
1500
86
86
Q 7
87
Q 8
Q 8
89
Q 9
90
Q 0
Q 1
91
Q 2
Q 2
93
Q 3
94
Q 4
Q 5
95
96
8
8
8
9
9
9
1-
3-
1-
3-
1-
3-
1-
3-
1-
3-
1-
3-
1-
3-
1-
3-
1-
3-
1-
3-
1-
Q
Q
Q
Quarter

Calculation – Trailing MA
1.  Choose window width (W)
2.  For MA at Hme t, place window on Hme points t-W+1,…,t
W=5
t-4 t-3 t-2 t-1 t
3.  Compute average of values in the window:
yt −W +1 + yt −W + 2 + ! + yt −1 + yt
MAt =
W

Calculation – Centered MA

Compute average of values in window (of width W), which is centered at t

Odd width: center window on Hme t and average the values in the window

Even width: take the two “almost centered” windows and average the values in
them
⎛yyt − 2++yyt −1++yyt++yyt +1+ y⎞

W=4 MAt =⎜ t −2 t −1 t t +1 + ⎟t + 2
W=4 MAt = ⎜
4 5 ⎟/2
⎜ yt −1 + yt + yt +1 + yt + 2 ⎟
W=5 ⎜
⎝ 4
⎟
⎠
t-2 t-1 t t+1 t+2
Moving Average Hands On

Exponential Smoothing
Simple Exponen4al Smoothing
Holt’s method
•  No Trend
•  Also called double exponenHal
•  No Seasonality
•  Trend
•  Level
•  No Seasonality
•  Noise (cannot be modeled)
Winter’s method
•  Assigns more •  Trend
weight to most •  Seasonality
recent observaHons •  Variants are possible

•  Assigns less weight

to farthest
observaHons

Simple Exponential Smoothing
Forecasts = es+mated level at most recent Hme point: Ft+k = Lt

AdapHve algorithm: adjusts most recent forecast (or level) based

on the actual data:

Lt = αYt + (1-α) Lt-1

α = the smoothing constant (0<α≤ 1)

IniHalizaHon: F1 = L1 = Y1


The formula: Lt = αYt + (1-α) Lt-1
Substitute Lt with its own formula:

Lt = αYt + (1-α)[ αYt-1 + (1-α) Lt-2] =
= αYt + α (1-α)Yt-1 + (1-α)2 Lt-2 = …
= αYt + α (1-α)Yt-1 + α (1-α)2 Yt-2 +…

The formula: Lt = αYt + (1-α) Lt-1
^
Yt+1 = Lt = Lt-1 + α (Yt - Lt-1 )
^ ^
= Yt + α (Yt - Yt )
^
= Yt + α Et
By an amount that depends on the

update previous forecast error in the previous forecast
α controls the degree of “learning”
Smoothing Constant ‘α’
α determines how much weight is given to the past
α =1: past observations have no influence over forecasts (under-

smoothing)
= αYt + α (1-α)Yt-1 + α (1-α)2 Yt-2 +…
α→0: past observations have large influence on forecasts (over-

smoothing)
Selecting α
“Typical” values: 0.1, 0.2
Trial & error: effect on visualization
Minimize RMSE or MAPE of training data

Exponential Smoothing Hands On

MA vs ES
•  Assigns equal weights to •  Assigns more weight to

all past observaHons recent observaHons than
past observaHons
MA ES
•  BeKer to forecast when
data & environment is •  BeKer to forecast when
not volaHle data & environment is
volaHle
•  Window width is key to
success •  Smoothing constant (α)
value is key to success

De-trending & De-seasoning
•  To remove trend and/or seasonality, fit a regression model with
1
trend and/or seasonality
•  Series of forecast errors should be de-trended & de-seasonalized Regression

•  Simple & popular for removing trend and / or seasonality from a Hme series 2
•  Lag-1 difference: Yt – Yt-1 (For removing trend) ; Lag-M difference: Yt – Yt-M (For
removing seasonality)
Differencing
•  Double – differencing: difference the differenced series

•  Uses moving average to remove seasonality

3
Ra4o to
•  Generates seasonal indexes as a byproduct Moving
average

Seasonal Indexes
For a series with M seasons:

Sj = seasonal index for the jth season
indicates the exceedance of Y on season j above/below the average of Y in a
complete cycle of seasons

Make sense out of this statement:
“Daily sales at retail store shows that Friday has a seasonal index of 1.30
and Monday has an index of 0.65”

Let us put in easy terms:
“Friday sales is 30% higher than the weekly average, and Monday sales is 35% lower
than the weekly average sales”

Average of the M seasonal indexes is 1 (they must sum to M)

Seasonal Indexes
1.  Construct the series of centered moving averages of span M
2.  For each t, compute the raw seasonals = Yt / Mat
3.  Sj = average of raw seasonals belonging to season j (normalize to ensure

that seasonal indexes have average=1)
De-seasonalized (=seasonally-adjusted) series:
•  If done appropriately, de-seasonalized series will not exhibit seasonality

•  If so, examine for trend and fit a model
•  This model will yield de-seasonalized forecasts
•  Convert forecasts by re-seasonalizing, i.e. multiply them by the
appropriate seasonal index

The seasonally-adjusted sales for Q1-86 are in
the range
1.  $1500-$1700 (million)
2.  $1700-$1800 (million)
3.  $1800-$1900 (million)
4.  $1900-$2000 (million)
Quarter Sales Centered MA with W=4

Q1_86 1734.83
1734.83 / 0.8785 = $1974.8 mil Q2_86
Q3_86
2244.96
2533.80
raw seasonal
2143.76 1.18194269
s(j)
1.063872992
seasonal index
1.062660535
Q4_86 2154.96 2102.82 1.02479749 0.96423378 0.963134878
Q1_87 1547.82 2020.32 0.76612585 0.879530967 0.878528598
Q2_87 2104.41 1934.99 1.08755859 1.096926116 1.09567599
Q3_87 2014.36 1954.74 1.03050222
© 2013 Q4_87 1991.75
ExcelR Solutions. All Rights 2021.05
Reserved 0.9855033
Advanced Exponential Smoothing

Holt’s / Double Exponential Method
Forecasts = most recent es+mated level + trend

^
Yt+k = Lt + k Tt
Lt = αYt + (1-α)( Lt-1 + Tt-1) Tt = β (Lt -Lt-1) + (1- β) Tt-1

•  Global Trend = Linear Regression Model
•  Local Trend = ExponenHal Model
•  It is always beKer to choose default ‘α’ & ‘β’ values (0.2, 0.15)
•  What happens when α = 0 ?
•  What happens when β = 0 ?

Winter’s Method
Forecasts = most recent es+mated level + trend + Seasonal

^
Y t+k = (Lt + k Tt) * St-k+M

•  St = seasonal index of period ‘t’
•  M = number of seasons

Yt
Level: Lt = α + (1- α )( L t -1 + Tt -1 )
St − M

Trend (same as Holt’s): Tt = β ( L t − L t -1 ) + (1- β ) Tt -1

Seasonality (mulHplicaHve): S t = γ Yt + (1- γ ) S t -M
Lt

All 3 models – Generic
All three smoothing constants (α, β, γ) will be in the range: 0 to 1

It is always beKer to choose default ‘α’, ‘β’, ‘γ’ values (0.2, 0.15,
0.05)

IniHalizaHon (technical):

•  L1 = Y1 or L1=a from esHmated model Yt = a + bt
•  T1 = Y2-Y1 or T1 = (YT-Y1) / T (avg overall trend)
•  IniHal seasonal indexes = MA indexes (that we saw earlier)

AR(1) model
•  Yt = φ0 + φ1Yt – 1 + εt , εt white noise
ACF plot © 2013 ExcelR Solutions. All Rights Reserved

PACF (parHal ACF) plot
AR(p) model
•  Yt = φ0 + φ1Yt – 1 + φ2Yt – 2 + … + φpYt – p + εt , εt white noise
•  Such a model has non-zero ACF at all lags
•  However, only the first p PACFs are non-zero; the rest are zero
•  If PACF plot shows large PACFs only at a few lags, then AR model
is appropriate
•  If an AR model is to be fitted, the parameters φ0, φ1, φ2,…, φp have

to be estimated from the data, under the restriction that the estimated
values should guarantee a stationary process

MA(1) model
•  Yt = θ0 + εt + θ1 εt – 1 , εt white noise
θ1 = 0.8
θ1 = – 0.8
ACF plot PACF (parHal ACF) plot

MA(q) model
•  Yt = θ0 + εt + θ1 εt – 1 + θ2 εt – 2 + … + θq εt – q , εt
white noise
•  Such a model has non-zero PACF at all lags
•  However, only the first q ACFs are non-zero; the rest are
zero
•  If ACF plot shows large ACFs only at a few lags, then MA
model is appropriate
•  If an MA model is to be fitted, the parameters θ0, θ1, θ2,…,

θq have to be estimated from the data

ARMA(p,q) model
•  Yt = φ0 + φ1Yt – 1 + φ2Yt – 2 + … + φpYt – p
+ εt + θ 1 εt – 1 + θ 2 εt – 2 + … + θ q εt – q , εt white noise
•  Such a model has non-zero ACF and non-zero PACF at all lags
•  If an ARMA(p,q) model is to be fitted, the parameters φ0, φ1, φ2,…,

φp, θ1, θ2,…, θq have to be estimated from the data, under the
restriction that the estimated values produce a stationary process
•  AR(p) is ARMA(p,0)
•  MA(q) is ARMA(0,q)

ARIMA(p,d,q) model
•  If d-times differenced series is ARMA(p,q), then original series is
said to be ARIMA(p,d,q).
•  ARIMA stands for ‘Autoregressive Integrated Moving average’.
•  If Wt is the differenced version of Yt, i.e., Wt = Yt – Yt – 1,
then Yt can be written as
Y t = W t + W t – 1 + W t – 2 + Wt – 3 + … .
Thus, the series Yt is an ‘integrated’ (opposite of ‘differenced’)
version of the series Wt.
•  If Yt is ARIMA(p,d,q), it is non-stationary.
•  However, its d-times differenced version, an ARMA(p,q) process,
can be stationary.

Box-Jenkins ARIMA model-building
•  Model identification
–  If the time plot ‘looks’ non-stationary, difference it until the plot
looks stationary
–  Look at ACF and PACF plots for possible clue on model order
(p, q)
–  When in doubt (regarding choice of p and q), use the principle of
parsimony: A simple model is better than a complex model
•  Estimate model parameters
•  Check residuals for health of model
•  Iterate if necessary
•  Forecast using the fitted model

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EDA & Graphical Forecas4ng Strategy

Forecas4ng Models & Errors

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Short Term Micro Scale

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t = 1, 2, 3,…....= Hme period index

03 Explore & Visualize Series

06 Apply Forecas4ng Method(s)

07 Evaluate & Compare Performance

08 Implement Forecasts / System

© 2013 ExcelR Solutions. All Rights Reserved

• DescripHve = Time Series • How far into the future? k in Yt+k

• Numerical or event forecast?

• Cost of over-predicHon &

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Trend NON-SYSTEMATIC PART

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Mo., Qtr., Yr.

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• Plots a variable against Hme index

• Appropriate for visualizing serially collected data (Hme series)

• Brings out many useful aspects of the structure of the data

• Example: Electrical usage for Washington Water Power

© 2013 ExcelR Solutions. All Rights Reserved

Electrical power usage for Washington Water Power: 1980-1991

© 2013 ExcelR Solutions. All Rights Reserved

• Maximum demand in ﬁrst quarter; minimum in third quarter

• There may also be a slowly increasing trend (to be examined)

• Any reasonable forecast should have cyclic ﬂuctuaHons

• Trend (if any) need to be uHlized for forecasHng

• Forecast would not be exact – there would be some error

© 2013 ExcelR Solutions. All Rights Reserved

© 2013 ExcelR Solutions. All Rights Reserved

• Plots one variable against another Cost Age

© 2013 ExcelR Solutions. All Rights Reserved

• There is some variaHon (case to case)

• The rise in cost is about $ 80 per year of age

• It may be possible to use ‘age’ to forecast maintenance

• Forecast would not be a ‘certain’ predicHon – there would

© 2013 ExcelR Solutions. All Rights Reserved

• Brings out possible associaHon between successive samples

• Example: Monthly sale of VCRs by a music store in a year

= Number of VCRs sold in Hme period t

ScaHer plot of VCR sales with 1-step lagged VCR sales

© 2013 ExcelR Solutions. All Rights Reserved

• There is a reasonable degree of associaHon

• Value of lagged variable is known beforehand, so

• DescripHve = Time Series • How far into the future? k in Yt+k

• Numerical or event forecast?

• Cost of over-predicHon &

•  Plots a variable against Hme index

•  Appropriate for visualizing serially collected data (Hme series)

•  Brings out many useful aspects of the structure of the data

•  Example: Electrical usage for Washington Water Power

•  Maximum demand in ﬁrst quarter; minimum in third quarter

•  There may also be a slowly increasing trend (to be examined)

•  Any reasonable forecast should have cyclic ﬂuctuaHons

•  Trend (if any) need to be uHlized for forecasHng

•  Forecast would not be exact – there would be some error

•  Plots one variable against another Cost Age

•  There is some variaHon (case to case)

•  The rise in cost is about $ 80 per year of age

•  It may be possible to use ‘age’ to forecast maintenance

•  Forecast would not be a ‘certain’ predicHon – there would

•  Brings out possible associaHon between successive samples

•  Example: Monthly sale of VCRs by a music store in a year

•  There is a reasonable degree of associaHon

•  Value of lagged variable is known beforehand, so

•  AssociaHon between original and lagged variable

•  Increases progressively with k, but eventually reaches a

•  If the ‘true’ autocorrelaHon is 0, then the esHmate rk should

•  SomeHmes SE(rk) is approximated by

•  Plots the ACF or AutocorrelaHon funcHon (rk)

•  Plus-and-minus two-standard errors are

•  Reveals lagged variables that can be potenHally

•  ACFs at lags 4, 8, 12, etc are posiHve

•  ACF at lags 2,6,10 etc are negaHve

•  All these pick up the seasonal aspect of the data

•  The data may be re-examined afer ‘removing’

•  De-seasoned series has small ACFs

•  This part of the data has liKle forecasHng value

•  However, for long Hme series data aspect raHo should be

•  Mean absolute deviation

•  Mean squared error

•  Root mean squared error

•  Mean percentage error

•  Mean absolute percentage error

•  To overcome this problem we may deﬁne two diﬀerent

•  1. Mean Absolute DeviaHon:

•  2. Mean Square Error:

•  Just think of a case that one is forecasHng sales ﬁgures. Someone

•  So we need unit free measure

•  Both expressed in percentage form

•  Both are unit free