CHAPTER 6- AGGREGATE PLANNING

Principles of Supply Chain Management:

A Balanced Approach
 Learning Objectives
You should be able to:
– Describe the hierarchical operations planning process in terms of
materials planning & capacity planning
– Describe MRP, closed-loop MRP, MRP-II & ERP
– Know how to compute available-to-promise quantities.
– Know how to perform an MRP explosion.
– Distinguish dependent from independent demand inventories.
– Describe the four basic types of inventories & their functions.
– Understand the EOQ model

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 Chapter Six Outline
• Operations Planning
• The Aggregate Production Plan: Chase, Level, & Mixed Strategies
• Mater Production Scheduling
– Master Production Schedule Time Fence
– Available-to-Promise Quantities
• Dependent Demand & Independent Demand
• The Bill of Materials
• Materials Requirement Planning
• Capacity Planning
• Independent Demand Inventory Systems
– The ABC Inventory Control System
– The Economic Order Quantity Model

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 Introduction
Scheduling & inventory management influence how
assets are deployed.

Problem: A missed due date or stock-out may

cascade downstream, affecting the supply chain.
Operations managers are continuously involved in
balance capacity & output.

Here we will discuss:

– Hierarchical operations planning process
– Dependent & independent demand
– Basic types of inventories
– Various inventory management approaches

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 Matching Supply and Demand

• Suppliers must accurately forecast demand so they can

produce & deliver the right quantities at the right time at
the right cost.
• Suppliers must find ways to better match supply and
demand to achieve optimal levels of cost, quality, and
customer service to enable them to compete with other
supply chains.
• Problems that affect product & delivery will have
ramifications throughout the chain.

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 Operations Planning
• Operations planning is usually hierarchical & can be divided into
three broad categories:

• Long-range- Aggregate Production Plan (APP) involves the

construction of facilities & major equipment purchase

• Intermediate- Shows the quantity & timing of end items (i.e.,

master production schedule- MPS)

• Short-range- detailed planning process for components & parts to

support the master production schedule (i.e., materials
requirement planning- MRP)

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 Operations Planning- Cont.
• Closed-loop MRP- incorporates the aggregate production plan, the
master production schedule material requirements plan, capacity
requirements plan.

• Manufacturing resource planning (MRP-II) incorporates the

business & sales plans with the closed-loop MRP system.

• Distribution requirement planning (DRP) describes the time-

phased net requirements from warehouses & distribution centers
customer demand minus any on hand in-transit inventories.

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 Aggregate Production Plan
Hierarchical planning- process that
translates annual business & marketing plans
& demand forecasts into a production plan for
all products in a plant or facility. Hence,
Aggregate Production Plan

Planning horizon of APP- at least one year &

is usually rolled forward by three months
every quarter

Costs relevant to the aggregate planning

decision include inventory, setup, machine
operation, hiring, firing, training, & overtime
costs

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 Aggregate Production Plan- Cont.
Three basic production strategies :

1. Chase Strategy- Adjusts capacity to match the demand pattern.

Firm hires & lays off workers to match production to demand.
Workforce fluctuates but finished goods inventory remains constant.
Works well for make-to-order firms.
2. Level Strategy- Relies on a constant output rate & capacity while
varying inventory & backlog levels according to fluctuating demand
pattern. Workforce levels stay constant & firm relies on fluctuating
finished goods inventories & backlogs to meet demand. Works well
for make-to-stock manufacturing firms.
3. Mixed Production Strategy- To maintain stable workforce core
while using other short-term means, such as overtime, & additional
subcontracting or part time helpers to manage short-term demand.

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Example-Chase Strategy

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Example-Chase Strategy

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Example-Level Strategy

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Example-Level Strategy

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Practice Questions

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 Master Production Scheduling
Master Production Schedule- A detailed
disaggregation of the aggregate production plan,
listing the exact end items to be produced by a
specific period.
More detailed than APP & easier to plan under
stable demand.
Planning horizon is shorter than APP, but longer
than the lead time to produce the item.

Note: For the service industry, the master production

schedule may just be the appointment log or book,
which ensures that capacity (e.g., skilled labor or
professional service) is balance with demand.

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Example of MPS

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 Master Production Scheduling-Cont.

The MPS is the production quantity to meet demand from all sources &
is used for computing the requirements of all time-phased end items.

Frequent changes to the MPS may create system nervousness-

Situation where a small change in the upper-level-production plan
causes a major change in the lower-level production plan.

Many firms use a time fence system to deal with system nervousness.
A time fence separates the planning horizon into two segments
– Firmed Segment (AKA as a demand time fence), from current
period to several weeks into future. Can only be altered by
senior management.
– Tentative segment (AKA planning time fence), from end of the
firmed segment to several weeks farther into the future.

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 Master Production Scheduling-Cont.

Available-to-Promise (ATP) Quantities-

The MPS decides whether additional orders can be accepted for
difference between confirmed customer orders & the quantity the
firm planned to produce.

Three basic methods of calculating the available-to-promise quantities:

1. Discrete available-to-promise
2. Cumulative available-to-promise without look ahead, &
3. Cumulative available-to-promise with look ahead.

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 Master Production Scheduling-Cont.

Discrete Available-to-Promise

1. Add the Beginning Inventory to the MPS for Period 1, subtracting

the Committed Customer Orders.
2. For the next period, subtract the Committed Customer Orders. If
quantity is positive, this becomes the Period 2 ATP. If negative,
subtract enough from the previous period’s ATP to make the
current period’s ATP zero.
3. For subsequent periods, follow Step 2.

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Master Production Scheduling-Cont.

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ATP Calculations for Model A

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Try To Calculate ATP for Model B &
C

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ATP Calculations for Model B

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ATP Calculations for Model C

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 Dependent & Independent Demand

Dependent Demand
Describes the internal demand for parts based on the demand of the
final product in which the parts are used. Subassemblies,
components, & raw materials are examples of dependent demand
items.

Independent Demand
The demand for final products & has a demand pattern affected by
trends, seasonal patterns, & general market conditions.

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 The Bill of Materials

Bill of Materials (BOM)

An engineering document that shows an inclusive listing of all
component parts & assemblies making up the final product.

Multilevel Bill of Materials

shows the parent-component relationships & the specific units of
components known as the planning factor. The multilevel bill of
materials can be presented as an indented bill of materials. At each
level of indentation, the level number increases by one.

Super Bill of Materials (AKA planning BOM, pseudo BOM,

phantom BOM, or family BOM) enables the firm to forecast the
total demand end products.

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The Bill of Materials- Cont.

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The Bill of Materials- Cont.

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The Bill of Materials- Cont.

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 Materials Requirement Planning

MRP- A computer-based materials management system. The

materials requirement plan calculates the exact quantities, need
dates, & planned order releases for subassemblies & materials
required to manufacture the final products listed on .

MRP requires:
– The independent demand information.
– Parent-component relationships from the bill of materials.
– Inventory status of the final product & all of the components.
– Planned order releases (output of the MRP system)

Advantage of MRP- provides planning information

Disadvantage of MRP- loss of visibility, especially acute for
products with a deep bill of materials, & ignore capacity & shop
floor conditions.

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 Materials Requirement Planning- Cont.

Terms used in Materials Requirement Planning

1. Parent: Item generating the demand for lower-level components.
2. Components: parts demanded by a parent.
3. Gross requirement: A time-phased requirement prior to netting out
on-hand inventory & the lead-time consideration.
4. Net requirement: The unsatisfied item requirement for a specific time
period. Gross requirement for that period minus the current on-hand
inventory.
5. Scheduled receipt: A committed order awaiting delivery for a specific
period.
6. Projected on-hand inventory: Projected closing inventory at the end
of the period. Beginning inventory minus the gross requirement, plus
the scheduled receipt & planned receipt & planned receipt from
planned order releases.
7. Planned order release: Specific order to be released to the shop or to
the supplier.
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 Materials Requirement Planning- Cont.

Terms used in Materials Requirement Planning- Cont.

8. Time bucket: Time period used on the MRP. Days or weeks.
9. Explosion: The process of converting a parent item’s planned
order releases into component gross requirements.
10. Planning factor: Number of components needed to produce a unit
of the parent item.
11. Firmed planned order: Planned order that the MRP computer logic
system does not automatically change when conditions change to
prevent system nervousness.
12. Pegging: Relates gross requirements for a part to the planned
order releases the reverse of the explosion process.
13. Low-level coding: assigns the lowest level on the bill of materials to
all common components to avoid duplicate MRP computations.
14. Lot size: The order size for MRP logic
15. Safety Stock: Protects against uncertainties in demand supply,
quality, & lead time.
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Example

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Practice Questions

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 Capacity Planning

Excess (or insufficient) capacity prevents firm from taking advantage

of the efficiency of manufacturing planning & control system.
Resource Requirement Planning (RRP), a long-range capacity
planning module, checks whether aggregate resources are
capable of satisfying the aggregate production. Resources
considered include gross labor hours & machine hours.
Medium-range capacity plan, or rough-cut capacity plan (RCCP),
used to check feasibility of MPS. Converts MPS from production
needed to capacity required, then compares it to capacity
available.
Capacity requirement planning (CRP) is a short-range capacity
planning technique that is used to check the feasibility of the
material requirements plan.

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Generic ERP

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Independent Demand Inventory Systems

Independent demand inventory system-

Ensures smooth operations & allows storing-up WIP & finished goods.
Service firms are unable to inventory their output, but may use
appointment backlogs, labor scheduling & cross-training to balance
supply & demand.

Four broad categories of inventories

– Raw materials- unprocessed purchase inputs.
– Work-in-process (WIP)- partially processed materials not yet
ready for sales.
– Finished goods- products ready for shipment.
– Maintenance, repair & operating (MRO)- materials used when
producing (e.g., cleaners & brooms).
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Independent Demand Inventory Systems-
Cont.
ABC Inventory Control System- Determines which inventories
should be counted and managed more closely than others.
Groups inventory as A, B, and C Items.
A items are given the highest priority with larger safety stocks. A
items, which account for approximately 20 % of the total items,
account for about 80 % of the total inventory cost
B and C account for the other 80% of total items and only 20% of
costs. The B items require closer management since they are
relatively more expensive (per unit), require more effort to
purchase/make, and may be more prone to obsolescence than the
“trivial many” C items.
C items have the lowest priority.

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Independent Demand Inventory Systems-
Cont.
The Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) Model-
A quantitative decision model based on the trade-off between annual
inventory holding costs and annual order costs.
The EOQ model seeks to determine an optimal order quantity, where
the sum of the annual order cost and the annual inventory holding cost
is minimized.
– Order Cost is the direct variable cost associated with placing an
order.
– Holding Cost or carrying cost is the cost incurred for holding
inventory in storage.

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Independent Demand Inventory Systems-
Cont.
Assumptions of the Economic Order Quantity Model
– Demand must be known & constant.
– Delivery time is known & constant.
– Replenishment is instantaneous.
– Price is constant.
– Holding cost is known & constant.
– Ordering cost is known & constant.
– Stock-outs are not allowed.

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Independent Demand Inventory Systems-
Cont.

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Independent Demand Inventory Systems-
Cont.

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