Participants examine processes used to: develop sales and operations plans; identify and assess internal and external demand and forecasting requirements; and effect an achievable master schedule consistent with business policies, objectives, and resource constraints. The course focuses on developing and validating a plan of supply, relating management of demand to the environment, and developing and validating the master schedule.

The course encompasses concepts for transforming sales, marketing, and business requirements into a feasible and economic operations plan in various business environments. It also addresses concepts and methodologies for managing projected and actual demands from distribution networks and external customers. Finally, the course presents methods for integrating sales and operations plans, demand forecasts, and customer demand into a specific master schedule.

Course outline

Master Planning of Resources

I. Developing and Validating a Plan of Supply encompasses the processes, concepts and techniques for transforming business and market requirements into feasible and economical business and operations plans in various business environments. The processes include ensuring consistency among the functional plans, ensuring feasibility of all plans, and determining the form, location, and level of various resources (e.g. labor, capacity, inventory and capital) to satisfy anticipated demand.

A. Relating the Planning Processes to the Environment focuses on the concepts and approaches that apply to the transformation of the functional plans into a statement of overall output rates that is consistent with customer requirements, the business objectives of the organization and the operating environment.
1. Concepts
2. Management considerations

B. Understanding Business Choices that Impact the Aggregate Planning Process focuses on the management tradeoffs that arise when developing an aggregate plan (including sales, operations and inventory/backlog). It addresses the data and data sources required to support aggregate planning in a variety of business environments.
1. Management considerations
2. Data and data sources

C. Developing and Validating a Sales and Operations Plan focuses on the techniques for developing a plan of overall output rates in a variety of business environments and ensuring its feasibility. It addresses the relationship among sales, inventory, backlogs product releases and time phasing, and the methods for developing, validating and evaluating the sales and operations plan.
1. Concepts
2. Performance measurement

II. Identifying, Quantifying and Assessing Demand focuses on the concepts, methodologies and techniques for managing projected and actual demand from the distribution network and customers. It addresses the business characteristics that relate to service level and demand.

A. Relating Management of Demand to the Environment focuses on the concepts of and approaches to planning resource requirements and inventory levels throughout internal or external distribution networks. It addresses the basic decision of centralized or decentralized control of the network and measuring the performance of distribution resources as it relates to service level and demand.
1. Distribution systems

B. Forecasting Demand focuses on the need for and uses of projections of future aggregate end-item demand in a variety of business environments. It addresses the types of projection and their use, and the selection of methods appropriate to the specific use. The mechanics of specific forecasting methods, techniques, and forecast performance measurements are also addressed.
1. Forecasting demand concepts
2. Management considerations
3. Data sources and requirements
4. Forecasting techniques
5. Forecasting performance measurement

C. Recognizing and Processing Actual Demand focuses on customer relationships and order entry and fulfillment processes. It addresses the approaches and methods for accepting and processing actual demand, maintaining effective communications with customers, and establishing and maintaining order priorities.
1. Concepts
2. Management considerations
3. Data sources and requirements
4. Available-to-promise
5. Customer communications
6. Monitoring customer service performance

III. Developing and Validating the Master Schedule focuses on the process of translating the higher-level aggregate plans into a feasible schedule that can be executed by operations and suppliers. It includes the concepts, approaches and methods for integrating demand forecasts, actual customer demand and the sales and operation plan into a specific master schedule in a variety of business environments.

A. Relating the Master Scheduling Process to the Business Environment focuses on master scheduling concepts and the use of the master schedule in a variety of business environments. The level at which the schedule is developed varies by the nature and intricacies of each operating environment and must tie to the Sales and Operations Plan.
1. Choices of MPS level in different demand fulfillment approaches
2. Relationships and interdependencies to other planning activities
3. Product structuring
4. Techniques
5. Role of the master scheduler

B. Understanding the Business Choices that Impact the Master Scheduling Process focuses on the management considerations that arise when creating and implementing the master schedule. It addresses the management choices, data and data sources supporting these processes.
1. Management considerations
2. Data sources and requirements

C. Constructing and Implementing the Master Schedule focuses on the approaches used in developing the master schedule and ensuring its feasibility and consistency with the higher level plans in a variety of business environments.
1. Constructing the master schedule
2. Validating the master production schedule
3. Final assembly schedule

D. Measuring the Business Planning Processes focuses on indicators of how well these processes meet customer requirements and business objectives. Indicators are also needed to track the effectiveness of the planning tools, techniques, and the workload involved in maintaining a validated Master Production Schedule.
1. Customer service performance
2. Periodic and timely review/revision of the master schedule
3. Periodic and timely review/revision of the final assembly schedule
4. Tracking of master schedule changes

(the above course review comes from APICS materials)

Please contact the Professional Education and Training Division at (816) 662-1229 or email us EDUCATION@BARRONS-AUXIER.COM and discuss what we may do to meet your company’s needs.

(This course description comes from APICS materials)