Figure 4-8 shows results for Example 4.5 when the data are run on Minitab (see the Minitab Applications section at the end of the chapter for instructions). The smoothing constant of α = .266 was automatically selected by minimizing the MSE. The MSE is reduced to 19,447, the MAPE equals 32.2%, and although not shown, the MPE equals -6.4%. the forecast for the first quarter of 2006 is 534.