Linguistic summaries of sales data at a computer retailer via fuzzy logic and a genetic algorithm

Author

Kacprzyk, Janusz ; Strykowski, Pawel

Author_Institution

Syst. Res. Inst., Polish Acad. of Sci., Warsaw, Poland

Volume

2

fYear

1999

fDate

1999

Abstract

We present an implementation (as an add-in to the DBMS) of fuzzy linguistic summaries of sales data of a small-to-medium size computer retailer in Southern Poland. The system derives linguistic summaries exemplified by “about a half of sales of accessories is in autumn” or “about 1/3 of sales of network elements is in the beginning of the year”. An inherent imprecision of natural language is accounted for by using elements of fuzzy logic, and to effectively and efficiently search the company´s database, a genetic algorithm is employed. The fitting function represents a multiaspect measure of the quality of a linguistic summary. The results obtained turned out to be useful to the owner, and suggested some changes in sales policy, determining the staff size, negotiation of commissions, etc. A combination of fuzzy logic and a genetic algorithm proved to be effective, efficient and synergistic

Keywords

fuzzy logic; genetic algorithms; query processing; report generators; retail data processing; sales management; uncertainty handling; DBMS; commissions; computer retailer; fitting function; fuzzy logic; genetic algorithm; imprecision; linguistic summaries; multiaspect measure; natural language; sales data; staff size; Cities and towns; Companies; Computer networks; Data analysis; Data mining; Database systems; Fuzzy logic; Genetic algorithms; Marketing and sales; Natural languages;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Evolutionary Computation, 1999. CEC 99. Proceedings of the 1999 Congress on

Conference_Location

Washington, DC

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5536-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/CEC.1999.782523

Filename

782523