Setting the Initial Value for Single Exponential Smoothing and the Value of the Smoothing Constant for Forecasting Using Solver in Microsoft Excel

Although single exponential smoothing is a popular forecasting method for wide range of applications involving stationary time series data, consistent rules about choosing the initial value and determining constant (α) are still required, because they directly impact forecast accuracy. The purpose this study to mitigate these shortcomings. First, new setting by weighting derived, its performance compared with two other traditional methods. Second, optimal was automatically solved using Solver in Microsoft Excel, after which