Forecasting。Forecastingistheprocessofmakingpredictionsaboutthefuturebasedoncurrentandpastdata。Itisanessentialpartofbusinessasithelpsdecisionmakersidentifyrisksandopportunities，planforthefuture，andtakecorrectiveactionwhenneeded。Forecastingcanbeusedtopredictavarietyofoutcomes，suchassales，inventory，revenue，andtrends。Companiescanalsouseforecastingtoassesstheimpactofpotentialdecisions，suchasintroducinganewproductorexpandingintoanewmarket。Inaddition，forecastingcanhelporganizationsbetterunderstandcustomerbehaviorsandpreferences，enablingthemtomakemoreinformeddecisions。