SLP

SOLVING A COMPLEX PROBLEM BASED UPON CAPACITY PLANNING AND FORECASTING

Session Long Project

Using your fictitious company from previous SLP assignments, develop the company profile and operating information. Your company is faced with an increase in demand.

Identify how your company uses forecasting for purposes of capacity planning and how you can utilize productivity, inventory control, and quality improvements to meet this new demand. Identify different kinds of capacity and capacity constraints. How is forecasting used to generate short-term and long-term information about demand that affects capacity? What are some options that the company has in terms of increasing its capacity?

NOTE: in retail businesses with physical locations where customers are served, capacity can be measured in terms of size of the facility and throughout of customers. What is your current Max Possible throughput - how many customers can you serve with your current capacity? Often there is a trade-off in size of the facility for backroom inventory or kitchen, displaying inventory to customers or seating, and customer space such as aisles and checkouts or bar space and waiting areas. You should consider all of these in your capacity analysis.

This paper should be approximately 3-5 pages in length counting the introduction, body, and summary. You should include references and cite them properly in the paper. Generally, at least three references should be used.

SLP Assignment Expectations

- First discuss the recap your company and add any additional information about it that will add necessary and/or interesting information as background to the discussion of capacity and forecasting.

- Identify at least two types of capacity and the constraints that act on them now and in the future.

- Discuss the types of forecasting methods that your company uses. How do they generate short-term and long-term demand forecasts?

- Besides using the forecasts for capacity planning, are there other uses of these forecasts?

- Determine and discuss some options that the company has in terms of relaxing or eliminating constraints and increasing capacity in the two areas you have identified. Which of these options would you recommend and why?

Read and review all of the references and resources on productivity, processes, inventory, quality, and capacity.

You should look for additional references about the type of business you are operating with specific information about improving capacity and using forecasting.

Example:
Would you like to see an example? Click to see an example, based on a Ford Dealership.