BMGT 322 Operations Management

Module 3 Designing Production and Service Processes

Assignment #14

Use the following questions to help direct your study of the key concepts found in
Assignment 14 which covers much of Chapter 11. This assignment focuses on
effectively planning the management of resources needed to produce your
product/service and distribute the product to your customers. Determining supply demand
balances and managing them by using spreadsheets are key issues. The learning outcome
for Assignment 14 is to understand how to manage supply chain resources through
aggregate planning activities.

The major topic covered in this assignment is:
Aggregate Planning Using Chase and Level Aggregate Plans


Reading Assignment: Read Pages 472 491 of Chapter 11

Related Lecture Slides are posted in Desire2Learn: Reviewing these slides may assist
your understanding of the concepts in this chapter and the syllabus.

Aggregate Planning Part I PowerPoint Presentation
Aggregate Planning Part II PowerPoint Presentation

Problems: Complete the Assignment 11 Problems on Aggregate Planning
Aggregate Planning Problems




Chapter 11 This chapter discusses aggregate panning, an intermediate range capacity
planning that typically covers a time horizon of 2 to 12 months. The goal of aggregate
planning is to achieve a production plan that will effectively utilize the organizations
resources to satisfy expected demand in the next year.

Definitions

Aggregate planning:


Sales and operations planning:


Level capacity strategy:


Chase demand strategy:




Discussion Questions

1. What three levels of planning involve operations managers? What kinds of decisions
are made at the various levels?




2. Why is there a need for aggregate planning? Explain the managerial significance of
aggregate planning.




3. Identify the options available to manage demand. Identify the options available to
manage capacity.




4. Identify each of the following aggregate planning strategies and briefly describe the
advantages and disadvantages of each for managing varying demand patterns:
a. Maintain a level rate of output and let inventories absorb fluctuations in
demand.


b. Vary the size of the workforce or other ways of varying capacity to correspond
to predicted changes in demand requirements.



5. Discuss the procedure for aggregate planning and the various tools and techniques
available to the manager.