SIP Preparations

- Subhayan Sarkar

SCM Topics to Cover

Forecasting
Types of forecasting?
Types of Qualitative Methods of forecasting? Where are they used? Examples.
Different methods of quantitative forecasting?
Difference between associative and time-series Models?
Exponential Smoothing??? What happens when Smoothing Constant is equal to 1?
Difference between Trend and Seasonal and Cyclical Variations?
What is least square method? (How is it used? / In which forecasting technique is it used?
What is coefficient of Correlation and Coefficient of determination?
What is Tracking Signal? Formula
What is Bias? Positive and Negative Bias? (Refer Chopra Meindl)
Which is better to gauge error-MAD or MAPE?
What is Adaptive Smoothing?
What is Focus Forecasting?
How is forecasting done in a FMCG company? (Both Top Down and Bottom Up
approach) -Ask FMCG seniors

Quality and Statistical Process Control

What is PDCA?
What is DMAIC and DMADV?
What is internal and external Benchmarking?
What is Fish Bone Analysis?
What is a Pareto Chart?
What is POKA-YOKE?
What is the difference between Attribute and Variable Inspection?
What is Process Capability? How is it Measured?
What is the difference between Process Capability Ratio(Cp) and Process Capability
Index(Cpk)?
What is Central Limit Theorem?
What are the Control Charts for Variables? 2 Lines each about them
What are the Control Chart for Attributes? 2 Lines each about them
Capacity Planning
What is the difference between efficiency and effectiveness?
What is Economies of Scale and Economies of Scope?
Break-Even Analysis?

Location Strategies
What are the factors affecting location Decisions? Name the Factors and how are they
important?
What is Clustering?
What are the methods of Evaluating location alternatives?
What is Centre of Gravity method?
What is GIS?
What are the factors to be considered in Setting up a Warehouse in India? (For each
product- Biscuits, Laptops)

Layout Strategies
What are the types of Layout? With Examples.
What does good layout require to determine?
What is Office Layout?
What are Slotting Fees?
What is a Servicescape? What are the factors to be considered?
What is ASRS?
What is the difference between Random and Cross Docking?
What is Customization in Warehouse Practices?
What is Fixed-Position Layout? Example
What is Process-Oriented Layout? Example
What are Job Lots?
What is a Work Cell? Advantages of it.
What is Takt Time and Cycle Time?
What is Fabrication, Assembly Line?

Supply Chain Management

Discuss on Make or Buy? 7 points each
What are the different supply chain strategies used for obtaining goods and services from
outside services?
Discuss on Many & Few Suppliers. Examples
What is Vertical Integration? Examples
What is Keiretsu? Examples
What is a Virtual Company? Example
What is Bull Whip Effect? Reasons for it.
What do you mean by accurate pull Data?
 What do you mean by Lot Size Reduction?
What do you mean by Single Stage Control of Replenishment?
What do you mean by VMI?
What do you mean by Blanket Order?
What do you mean by Standardization?
What do you mean by Postponement?
What do you mean by Drop Shipping, Channel Assembly and Pass through Facility?
What do you mean by Electronic Data Interchange(EDI) and Advances Shipping
Notice(ASN)?
What are Online Catalogues? What are the three Versions of it?
What are the different types of Auctions? How is Reverse Auction different from all of
them and where is it used?
What do you mean by RFQs?
What is RFID? Why is it used and how can it help?
What are the different stages of Vendor Selection?
What do you mean by 1PL,2PL,3PL,4PL? Examples.
What do you mean by inventory Turnover?

Outsourcing
What do you mean by outsourcing?
What is offshoring?
What is Back Sourcing?
What are the risks in Outsourcing?
What are the advantages of Outsourcing?
What are the disadvantages of Outsourcing?

Inventory
What are the different types of inventory?
What do you mean by MRO and WIP?
What is ABC analysis?
What do you mean by Cycle Counting? What are its advantages?
What do you mean by Shrinkage and Pilferage Loss?
What do you mean by Holding, Ordering and Setup Costs?
What are the inventory Models for Independent Demand?
What do you mean by EOQ model?
What do you mean by POQ model?
What do you mean by Quantity Discount?
What is Reorder Point? And what is Lead Time?
What are the different types of Probabilistic Inventory Models?
What is Q and P types inventory Models? Advantages and Disadvantages
What is Service Level?
What is Fill Rate? Difference Between Order and Product Fill Rate?
 What do you mean by Stock out?
What is Safety Stock and how is it calculated?
What do you mean by Fixed Period Systems?
What do you mean by Fixed Quantity Systems?
What is a Perpetual Inventory System?

Aggregate Planning and MRP

What do you mean by MPS? How is it related to MRP?
What is Chase Strategy?
What is Level Strategy?
How do you make Aggregate Planning decisions in Service Industries?
What is Bill of Material(BOM)?
What are Modular Bills?
What are Planning and Phantom Bills?
What do you mean by Kits?
What is MRP?
What do you mean by System Nervousness?
What do you mean by Pegging?
What do you mean by Time Fences?
What is Finite Capacity Scheduling?
What do you mean by Buckets?
What is a Bucketless System?
What is Back Flush?
What is a Balanced Flow Approach?
What is Lot-For-Lot?
What is Part Period Balancing?
What is Economic Part Period?
What is MRP-II?
What is Closed Loop MRP?
What is ERP? Advantages and Disadvantages with examples.

JIT and Lean Operations

How did Toyota achieve competitive advantage with Lean Operation? Understand the
Concepts
What do you mean by JIT, TPS and Lean Operations?
What are the different kinds of Wastes?
What are 5S? 7S?
What is throughput time and how is it different from Cycle time?
What do you mean by a bottleneck?
What do you mean by Consignment Inventory?
What are the concerns of Suppliers with JIT?
What are the key factors to be considered in JIT layout?
 What are the main objectives in JIT with respect to inventory / JIT inventory tactics?
What do you mean by Kanban? examples
What is a two Bin system?
What do you mean by lean operation in Service Industries?

Other Topics
What is Hedging Inventory?
What is FSN and VED classification in Inventory?
What is 5PL in logistics?
What is SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dyes)?
What is FIFO, LIFO, FEFO?
What do you mean by Responsiveness? How can it be achieved?
What is PULL and PUSH strategies?
Difference Between Supply Chains of ZARA and Benneton?
What do you understand by Kaizen?
What is the difference in the Supply Chains of Parle-G and Dark Fantasy and Shampoo?

GD TOPICS
Generic Topics
Leader vs Manager
Make India, then Make in India
BREXIT- Implications on EU and Rest of the world?
US Rate Hike and Its Implications
Net Neutrality Who is right ? customers or telcos?
Make in India or Make for India ?
Way forward for the e-commerce companies to reach rural India
India 2050
The saga of smart cities- The challenges ahead
Why India cant become China?
A poor country like India should stop it's space programs and use the funds for upliftment
of the poor
The Chinese Financial Crisis, and its implication on the Global Market and India.
Role of IT in effective supply chain management
Marketing Strategies for Rural India
Giants adopting the E-Tail/ E-Commerce Platform.
Can Brick & Mortar and E-Commerce co-exist in India.
Who is the right fit to be a CEO- COO or a CMO?
Why will e-commerce succeed/fail in India?
Top Line vs Bottom Line? Women's Reservation bill will enhance the gender divide.
 Capital Punishment-Right or Inhumane?
If life is a competition, success is the final quest, then victory is all that matters.
The major reason behind the success of Capitalism is not greed-based but success-based
Positive discrimination is the price we are paying in the present for the past.
Should essential services like electricity and water be privatised?
Reverse auctions intelligent or an unwise move in Indian scenario?
SCM Topics
Should a company invest in Supply Chain software?
Technology in the context of SCM
Green Supply Chain?
Cold Supply Chain?
Push or Pull Supply Chain
Single Vendor vs Multiple Vendor Strategy?
Outsource or In-House?
IT in last mile delivery
Role of emerging market channels in efficient supply chain
RFID Power play how effective it is?
Should FMCGs implement RFID across their warehouses?
Is China the next frontier for Supply Chain Management?
Effectiveness of Supply Planning in Indian market
Challenges in Logistics for a company with procurement from South India and
manufacturing in North India
Effect of GST implementation on Distribution Planning Model of FMCG
Global sourcing from China a threat to India?
If production controls are completely removed distribution will take care of itself
Effect of allowing FDI in retail on Indian Supply Chain industry blessing
Corruption is the grease that allows the wheel of capitalism to go around smoothly
If Indian economy is to improve, its education system must change
The culture of consumerism has made us less human and moral
Management colleges produce MBAs not managers
Importance of Logistics growth in a countrys GDP.
Effectiveness of Supply Planning in Indian market.
Challenges in Logistics for a company with procurement from South India and
manufacturing in North India.
Motorolas war on Supply Chain complexity
Role of Supplier Evaluation in strategic purchasing
Strategic partnerships role in global supply chain environment
Initiating the change in Supply Chain of a FMCG/Pharma company- how, Should I start
from distribution or supplier end to improve my supply chain?
Strategic procurement vs Outsourced manufacturing?