Judgmental adjustment of demand forecasting models using social media data and sentiment analysis within industry 5.0 ecosystems

Industry 5.0 ecosystems focus on a human-centric approach to operations and supply chain management by integrating stakeholders, advanced technologies, and processes. While incorporating social media (SM) information into demand forecasting can significantly improve accuracy, it also brings about several challenges. This paper proposes an approach to leverage Big Data originating from SM networks combined with human judgment to build demand forecasts for new products. The structured methodology is demonstrated to improve forecast accuracy in a real case of a F&B company while providing several insights into the challenges and opportunities of integrating advanced information technology into the demand forecasting process. The main challenges include effectively categorising the impact factors of SM on demand forecasting, translating insights from SM into actionable decisions, and ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the data obtained from SM networks. Future studies should involve collaborative expert input and validating the approach across various companies and industries.