Discussion: Forecasting and Aggregate Planning

Throughout this course, you have learned about the various aspects of operations management. In this final week, the focus has been on two additional strategies, forecasting and aggregate planning. With as quickly as today’s marketplace changes, managers need to be able to maximize the use of available resources as well as adjust strategies quickly to meet the market demands. Two basic production strategies, level strategy and chase strategy, help managers transform forecasts or estimates of market demand into a production plan for efficiently and effectively meeting that demand.

Consider what you have learned about the use of aggregate planning. In the course text, review the list of variables that can be used in aggregate planning to modify the supply.

To prepare for this Discussion, consider the following:

One option for managing costs associated with changes in demand for a product or service is hiring additional personnel during periods of increasing demand and conducting layoffs during lower-demand periods.