Forecasting Research Projects
“An ideal initial project and recruitment opportunity”
Selected Master‘s Projects in Forecasting
Forecasting Support System for Price Promotion
LCF successfully developed an easy-to-use software tool to evaluate the impact of price promotions in the highly competitive beer market on the product and its competitors. The extensive project lasted a number of years and involved multiple students.
Software Selection: Forecasting Support System
Working with IT staff, this project specified software requirements of a new forecasting system to account for daily events in the forecasts for store level purchases. To guide the make-or-buy decision, functional requirements for state-of-the-art methods were analyzed, a short-list of software companies was produced and a methodology for the evaluation of the different software products developed.
Review of Store Inventory Management Policy
This project reviewed the existing stock control system and investigated some potential improvements using a simulation model. It was demonstrated that reductions in the cost of stockholding could be achieved by reducing, for many items, the existing 4-weeks safety stock target, which currently is applied to all items. Further work to confirm this recommendation was proposed.
- BT
- Littlewoods
- Index
- Tesco
- Burton's
- Beiersdorf
- Barclaycard
- Interbew
- Vodaphone
- AEA Technology
Why fund a Masters or PhD Student Project?
Organisations regularly face problems they don’t have the resources to solve. Student projects offer your company a cost-efficient opportunity to embark on research or consultancy projects with the LCF, with supervision through leading experts in the field.
Master (MSc OR) and PhD students in Operations Research are well trained in project consultancy and all models, processes and software of Management Science, including
- Forecasting methods
- Inventory Management Models
- Supply Chain & Operations Management
- Logistics in Manufacturing & Retailing
- Software Packages (SPSS, SAS Enterprise Miner, Forecast Pro XE, MS Office etc.)
While MSc OR projects (May-Sep) support recruitment of students, these projects often serve as an initial step into a larger cooperation with LCF, initiating support through PhD students and senior staff members to solve complex problems, develop novel methods or enhance processes.
Project & Consultancy Fees
Single student: £2900 + expenses
Two students: £2200 + expenses per student
PhD student: negotiable (per day / year / full)
Senior Staff: negotiable
Contact: Prof. R. Fildes (R.Fildes@lancaster.ac.uk) or Dr. Sven Crone (S.Crone@Lancaster.ac.uk)
