An organisation’s sales plans and marketing initiatives usually address the demand options. Operations managers usually address the capacity options and develop strategies to adjust capacity. If an organisation selects one option, it has a pure strategy for meeting demand. When an organisation selects two or more capacity options, it has a mixed strategy. There are eight aggregate planning strategies: five capacity options and three demand options.

Capacity options:

Changing inventory levels

Varying workforce size by hiring or layoffs

Varying production through overtime or idle time

Subcontracting

Using part-time workforce

Demand options:

Influencing demand through incentives

Back-ordering during high-demand periods

Counter-seasonal product (or service) mixing

Generally speaking, capacity planning will use some mix of three ‘pure’ approaches; level capacity, chase demand, and demand management.

briefly discuss which of the above strategies is used by your workplace? If none of them is used, which of these strategies you would choose to use and why?