Q1] SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT?CASE STUDY?

ANSWER- What does it take for a US$60 billion high-tech giant like Dell Inc.
to compete in today's margin-hungry personal computer market? "We are
always looking for ways to take out waste, to take out time and take out costs,
and then passing those savings along to our customer," says Dave Schneider,
continuous improvement engineering manager for Dell Americas operations.
To meet these goals, Dell relies on a unique supply chain strategy that gathers
large volumes of customer information through its direct-sales model and shares
it with internal procurement and sales departments, as well as external
suppliers.

"These close relationships with customers and suppliers allow us to know what
we must be able to supply in real time, and then very quickly and precisely meet
that demand while maintaining low inventory," Schneider says. "We are not
manufacturing finished goods that we hope people will buy. However, the
relationships we have with the majority of our customers enable us to forecast
accurately without filling a pipeline of finished goods."

It's All About the Information -To successfully forecast demand, Dell maintains
a constant flow of data in two information loops: one between customers and
the Dell sales team, and the other among sales, procurement, and suppliers.

Key metrics Dell shares with suppliers include forecasted sales dollars, sales
quantities and parts requirements. In return, it receives data about how well
suppliers can support these forecasts. "We need to understand the supportability
of our demand in the short term for every single product that we're going to sell
down to every hard disk, video card and optical drive," Schneider explains.
"What we are really measuring is our suppliers' ability to be flexible and adjust
to our changing demands."

The information Dell receives from suppliers tells its sales team what products
it can effectively promote. "That really goes to a demand-shaping concept."

Information Evolution-Dell's communication system evolved from the early

days of spread sheets to today's sophisticated online and collaborative tools,
which provide a rich mix of current and historical information about supplier
performance.

Dell's other key information technology infrastructure components include

Oracle Database 10g (on which it has standardized) and Oracle E-Business
Suite 11i, including Oracle Financials, Oracle Purchasing, Oracle Order
Management, Oracle Collaboration Suite, Oracle Field Sales and Oracle
Telesales. Dell also uses the Oracle Customer Data Hub. "We have certainly
moved the needle on the use of technology in this supply chain process,"
Schneider says.

Q2] WHAT IS PRODUCTION PLANNING CONTROL?

ANSWER-For efficient, effective and economical operation in

manufacturing unit of an organization, it is essential to
integrate the production planning and control system.
Production planning and subsequent production control follow
adaption of product design and finalization of a production
process.

Production planning and control address a fundamental problem of low

productivity, inventory management and resource utilization.

Production planning is required for scheduling, dispatch, inspection, quality

management, inventory management, supply management and equipment
management. Production control ensures that production team can achieve
required production target, optimum utilization of resources, quality
management and cost savings.

Planning and control are an essential ingredient for success of an operation

unit. The benefits of production planning and control are as follows:

It ensures that optimum utilization of production capacity is achieved, by

proper scheduling of the machine items which reduces the idle time as
well as over use.

It ensures that inventory level are maintained at optimum levels at all

time, i.e. there is no over-stocking or under-stocking.

It also ensures that production time is kept at optimum level and thereby
increasing the turnover time.

Since it overlooks all aspects of production, quality of final product is

always maintained

Production Planning

Production planning is one part of production planning and control dealing with
basic concepts of what to produce, when to produce, how much to produce, etc.
It involves taking a long-term view at overall production planning. Therefore,
objectives of production planning are as follows:

To ensure right quantity and quality of raw material, equipment, etc. are
available during times of production.

To ensure capacity utilization is in tune with forecast demand at all the

time.
A well thought production planning ensures that overall production process is
streamlined providing following benefits:

Organization can deliver a product in a timely and regular manner.

Supplier are informed will in advance for the requirement of raw

materials.

It reduces investment in inventory.

It reduces overall production cost by driving in efficiency.

Production planning takes care of two basic strategies product planning and
process planning. Production planning is done at three different time dependent
levels i.e. long-range planning dealing with facility planning, capital
investment, location planning, etc.; medium-range planning deals with demand
forecast and capacity planning and lastly short term planning dealing with day
to day operations.

Production Control

Production control looks to utilize different type of control techniques to

achieve optimum performance out of the production system as to achieve
overall production planning targets. Therefore, objectives of production control
are as follows:

Regulate inventory management

Organize the production schedules

Optimum utilization of resources and production process

The advantages of robust production control are as follows:

Ensure a smooth flow of all production processes

Ensure production cost savings thereby improving the bottom line

Control wastage of resources

It maintains standard of quality through the production life cycle.

Production control cannot be same across all the organization. Production

control is dependent upon the following factors:
 Nature of production( job oriented, service oriented, etc.)

Nature of operation

Size of operation

Production planning and control are essential for customer delight and overall
success of an organization.

Q3] WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MRP,MRP-2,ERP EXPLAIN

WITH SYSTEMATIC DIAGRAM?

ANSWER-

MRP / MRP II

MRP (Material Requirements Planning) and MRP II (Manufacturing Resource

Planning) are systems that control production and inventory. This means they
are usually only utilized by the purchasing, production, and delivery
departments.

Many people assume that MRP programs are just a part of an ERP program.
While MRP can integrate within an ERP system, they also function perfectly
fine on their own. MRP programs, however, rely heavily on manual input from
their users to create production schedules.

ERP

An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system is a program that provides a

fully integrated manufacturing experience. ERP programs allow information to
be transmitted instantaneously from the production floor to accounting to HR.
Modules for each department within a facility are transmitted through the ERP
central processing system, giving facility managers complete transparency
between departments.

Because these systems control practically every process in a manufacturing

facility, they can sometimes have hundreds of users. The best programs can
coordinate functions between multiple facilities and optimize the production
process.
Q4] WHAT ARE THE MANUFACTURING STRATEGIES EXPLAIN IN
DETAILS?

ANSWER-

BASIC STRATEGIES

In summary, the production planning problem typically has the following

characteristics:

A time horizon of 12 months is used, with periodic updating perhaps every

month or quarter.

Production demand consists of one or a few product families or common units.

Demand is fluctuating or seasonal.

Plant and equipment are fixed within the time horizon.

A variety of management objectives are set, such as low inventories, efficient

plant operation, good customer service, and good labor relations.

Suppose a product group has the demand forecast shown in Figure 2.7. Note

that the demand is seasonal.

There are three basic strategies that can be used in developing a production

plan:

1. Chase strategy.

2. Production levelling.

3. Subcontracting

Chase (demand matching) strategy. Chase strategy means producing the

amounts demanded at any given time. Inventory levels remain stable while
production varies to meet demand. Figure 2.8 shows this strategy. The firm
manufactures just enough at any one time to meet demand exactly. In some
industries, this is the only strategy that can be followed. Farmers, for instance,
must produce in the growing season. The post office must process mail over the
Christmas rush and in slack seasons. Restaurants have to serve meals when the
customers want them. These industries cannot stockpile or inventory their
products or services and must be capable of meeting demand as it occurs. In
these cases, the company must have enough capacity to be able to meet the peak
demand. Farmers must have sufficient machinery and equipment to harvest in
the growing season although the equipment will lie idle in the winter.
Companies have to hire and train people for the peak periods and lay them off
when the peak is past. Sometimes they have to put on extra shifts and overtime.
All these changes add cost.

The advantage to the chase strategy is that inventories can be kept to a

minimum. Goods are made when demand occurs and are not stockpiled. Thus,
the costs associated with carrying inventories are avoided.
Production levelling. Production levelling is continually producing an amount
equal to the average demand. This relationship is shown in Figure 2.9.
Companies calculate their total demand over the time span of the plan and, on
the average, produce enough to meet it. Sometimes demand is less than the
amount produced and an inventory builds up. At other times demand is greater
and inventory is used up. The advantage of a production levelling strategy is
that it results in a smooth level of operation that avoids the costs of changing
production levels. Firms do not need to have excess capacity to meet peak
demand. They do not need to hire and train workers and lay them off in slack
periods. They can build a stable workforce. The disadvantage is that inventory
will build up in low-demand periods. This inventory will cost money to carry.
Production levelling means the company will use its resources at a level rate
and produce the same amount each day it is operating. The amount produced
each month.

Subcontracting. As a pure strategy, subcontracting means always producing

at the level of minimum demand and meeting any additional demand through
subcontracting. Subcontracting can mean buying the extra amounts demanded
or turning away extra demand. The latter can be done by increasing prices when
demand is high or by extending lead times. The major advantage of this strategy
is cost. Costs associated with excess capacity are avoided, and because
production is levelled, there are no costs associated with changing production
levels. The main disadvantage is that the cost of purchasing. (item cost,
purchasing, transportation, and inspection costs) may be greater than if the item
were made in the plant. Few companies make everything or buy everything they
need. The decision about which items to buy and which to manufacture depends
mainly on cost, but there are several other factors that may be considered. Firms
may manufacture to keep confidential processes within the company, to
maintain quality levels, and to maintain a workforce. They may buy from a
supplier who has special expertise in design and manufacture of a component,
to allow the firm to concentrate on its own area of expertise, or to provide
known and competitive prices. For many items, such as nuts and bolts or
components that the firm does not normally make, the decision is clear. For
other items that are within the specialty of the firm, a decision must be made
whether to subcontract or not.

Hybrid strategy. The three strategies discussed so far are pure strategies. Each
has its own set of costs: equipment, hiring/layoff, overtime, inventory, and
subcontracting. In reality, there are many possible hybrid or combined
strategies a company may use. Each will have its own set of cost characteristics.
Production management is responsible for finding the combination of strategies
that minimizes the sum of all costs involved, providing the level of service
required, and meeting the objectives of the financial and marketing plans.
Figure shows a possible hybrid plan. Demand is matched to some extent,
production is partially smoothed, and in the peak period some subcontracting
takes place. The plan is only one of many that could be developed.
Q5] WRITE THE PROCEDURE FOR MAKE TO ORDER,MAKE TO
STUDY,ASSEMBLE TO ORDER,ENGINERRRS TO DESIGN?

ANSWER-

Engineer-to-order means that the customers specifications require unique

engineering design or significant customization. Usually the customer is highly
involved in the product design. Inventory will not normally be purchased until
needed by manufacturing. Delivery lead time is long because it includes not
only purchase lead time but design lead time as well.

Make-to-order means that the manufacturer does not start to make the product
until a customers order is received. The final product is usually made from
standard items but may include custom-designed components as well. Delivery
lead time is reduced because there is little design time required and inventory is
held as raw material.

Assemble-to-order means that the product is made from standard components

that the manufacturer can inventory and assemble according to a customer

order. Delivery lead time is reduced further because there is no design time
needed and inventory is held ready for assembly. Customer involvement in the
design of the product is limited to selecting the component part options needed.

Make-to-stock means that the supplier manufactures the goods and sells from
finished goods inventory. Delivery lead time is shortest. The customer has little
direct involvement in the product design.

Q7] DISCUSS THE TERM BACKLOG AS A PRODUCTION MANAGER

WOULD YOU BE HAPPY WITH YOUR LARGE BACKLOG OR LESS?
ANSWER-

A make-to-order environment, a company does not build an inventory of

finished goods. Instead, it has a backlog of unfilled customer orders. The
backlog normally will be for delivery in the future and does not represent orders
that are late or past due. A custom woodwork shop might have orders from
customers that will keep it busy for several weeks. This will be its backlog. If
individuals want some work done, the order will join the queue or backlog.
Manufacturers like to control the backlog so that they can provide a good level
of customer service.

Q8]WHAT IS HYBRID STRATEGY & WHY IT IS USED?

ANSWER-

Hybrid strategy. The three strategies discussed so far are pure strategies. Each
has its own set of costs: equipment, hiring/layoff, overtime, inventory, and
subcontracting. In reality, there are many possible hybrid or combined
strategies a company may use. Each will have its own set of cost characteristics.
Production management is responsible for finding the combination of strategies
that minimizes the sum of all costs involved, providing the level of service
required, and meeting the objectives of the financial and marketing plans.
Figure shows a possible hybrid plan. Demand is matched to some extent,
production is partially smoothed, and in the peak period some subcontracting
takes place. The plan is only one of many that could be developed.