For this discussion, respond to the following questions:

What is an inventory driver?

Is any inventory sign of waste?

Can managers simultaneously justify holding inventory and still seek ways to lower inventories?

What is the difference between a controllable and an uncontrollable inventory driver?

Is it possible to make all inventory drivers controllable?

What type of operations and supply chain environment has more difficulty managing capacity- n environment supporting standardized products and services or one that supports customized products and services? Explain.

What kind of capacity strategy-lead, lag, or match-would be associated with supporting standardized products or services versus customized products and services? Explain how the strategy matches the type of environment.

Product design can be conducted by two major procedures:

Concurrent engineering.

Sequential engineering.

Which type of product development effort would be better suited to concurrent engineering-a radically new product involving cutting-edge product engineering technologies or the latest version of an existing product? Explain.

In addition, there are several approaches to product design, including parts standardization and modularity:

How do these two approaches relate to the dimensions of product design?

Is modularity generally more suitable for parts design and modularity?

What are the advantages of having computer-based forecasting packages handle forecasting?

What are the differences between using linear regression to develop a time series forecasting model and a causal forecasting model?

Are highly experienced managers able to forecast equally or better than computers using heuristics?

Given your response to the previous question, what are the implications for the role of managers and computers in forecasting?

What are some advantages and disadvantages of JIT and lean production?

Why do you think many firms are experiencing an increase in JIT and lean production?

Are there organizational issues that enter the decision to lower inventory level?

How do you feel about the stakeholders whose interests are damaged by maintaining lower inventories?

If a firm is using sales and operations planning (S&OP) to coordinate marketing and operations, does it need master planning such as ERP or ERP2?

How are S&OP and master planning similar?

How do S&OP and master planning differ?

What are the advantages of other computer software operations and supply chain management software such as MRP, MRP2, and DRP?