Operations Planning

This is one of the "fun" parts of being an operations manager - strategic and tactical planning. Should operations be part of the strategic planning process? Should the operations organization approve the "sales" plan before it is accepted by the organization? Why or why not. Should the operations plan contain a risk assessment as a part of the planning process? How would a tactical plan fit within the strategic planning process? Should employees have part of their "appraisal" include the goals from the tactical plan? Why or why not.

· Forecasting

Forecasting techinques may vary according to the type of business - choose an industry you are familiar with to discuss their current forecasting technique for future business. What are the pros and cons of this technique? Then analyzing other techniques, such as seasonal or history, discuss why another technique might provide a different forecast for the industry.

· Bill of Materials (BOM) file
 
Every manufactured product has a bill-of-materials (BOM) file. BOM file is extremely important in manufacturing process because it contains the following information. It contains the complete product description, listing of raw materials, assembly parts, components, the quantity of each item, and also the sequence in which the product is created. A great MRP system should have a complete BOM file, a master schedule, and the inventory records file. A clean BOM file simplifies the scheduling and control of manufacturing parts. It also makes it easier to forecast the use of the same part or assembly in a number of different products, then the total inventory investment can be minimized.

Jacobs, R. F., & Chase, R. B. (2014). Operations and Supply Chain Management 14th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.