CONTENTS

1.0. Introduction 2
2.0. Competitive Priority 3
2.1. The sales division 3
2.2. The cafeteria 4
2.3. The hire branch 5
3.0. FORECASTING 6
3.1. Time series 6
4.0. Discussion 7
4.1. Expend Population 7
4.2. Environmental 8
5.0. Conclusion 8
6.0. Recommendation 错误! 未定义书签。
7.0. References 10

1.1. Introduction
Gardening becomes hugely popular in the last decade, and this trend will continue. According to Key Note (2014), over the next 5 years, a considerable growth of 3.3% in the garden market will be estimated, particularly in lawnmowers and powered garden tools and equipment. The trend boomed include many reasons such as economy, lifestyle, and environmental awareness. The economy situation is recovered that means the ability of
2.4. The hire branch
Dobbies garden center have 35 stores in UK and the hire branch ruing is really successful, it supplies one third of market. When consumers want hire something, Dobbies would be their first choice. The competitive priority is Flexibility in the hire branch for Dobbies. It is essential to meet customers demand within a high volume and wide varieties of products and service (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1984). Dobbies has various equipment available for hire, which includes heavy-duty grass scarifies, law aerators and rotivators. The current types of equipment already could satisfy most consumers but comparing with B&Q in products volume and variety Dobbies do not have much advantage. B&Q is the largest retailer of garden products operating 139 stores around the UK. There are more than 40,000 great-value products in each garden center (B&Q, 2014).
Time is another important competitive strengths for the hire branch. History has shown that the demand for such equipment is seasonal and normally there are two peaks per year. On-time delivery also not did well for Dobbies garden center, it already forecasting the demand and know the peak time but not scheduling and planning current resources in a better way to reduce the lead time and retaining customer.
3.1. FORECASTING
Forecasting customer demand will be focused in this report