Explain what is meant by “capacity” in terms of a business plan?
Operational planning is a comprehensive roadmap that develops a picture of a department or unit concerning the attainment of organizational goals. This process maps out day-to-day activities required to be completed to allow the company realize its long-term vision (Porter, 2009). Therefore, operational planning focuses on the “who,” “what,” “when”, and “how much.” Concerning the “what,” operational planning focuses on determining the strategies and activities to be achieved within a specific period (Porter, 2009). Hence, a department needs to identify the specific issues that ought to be completed to achieve the intended organizational goal. For example, these aspects may include the required tasks, budget, opportunities, threats, and possible solutions. Overall, the “what” in operational planning comprises the specific strategies needed to support the attainment of organizational mission.
- Explain what is meant by “capacity” in terms of a business plan?
Capacity planning is a critical aspect in the development of a business plan. As noted by Porter (2009), “capacity planning is a measure of an organization’s ability to provide customers with services or goods in the amount requested in the amount requested at the time requested” (P. 34). This definition conceptualizes capacity as the ability of a company to meet the demands of the market in a timely manner. In a business plan, therefore, capacity determination focuses on evaluating the company’s capacity and market demand. The marketing department performs demand forecasts to inform the operations unit how to manage capacity plans (Porter, 2009). For example, demand statistics can enable the operations organ to determine the amount of goods required as well as the number of employees needed to complete the task.
Capacity measurement is vital to aligning the company’s operations with the market demand. Capacity is a dynamic variable that is influenced by a range of factors such as the processed product mix and machine setup needs (Porter, 2009). Therefore, operations department should measure capacity in terms of input if the product mix changes to determine the potential output.
- Explain what a detailed schedule is?
The concept of detailed scheduling is an essential activity in the production and operation management. Detailed scheduling entails the careful assessment of the factors that affect production by focusing on specific components that play a critical role in the process (Kreipl & Pinedo, 2004). Hence, this process involves the identification of lead times, available resources, threats, gaps in production, and potentials. The core objective of detailed scheduling is to align the entire production process, including labor, raw materials, the creation and packaging of products, and delivery procedure to ensure the cycle is flawless (Kreipl & Pinedo, 2004). When performed appropriately, therefore, detailed scheduling averts bottlenecks and minimizes lead times significantly. The most important aspect about detailed scheduling is the need to balance inventory with workflow. This process entails in optimizing costs associated with ordering and storing inventory as well as expenses related to workforce (Kreipl & Pinedo, 2004). With this focus, an organization stands a chance of reducing lead times and saving substantial amount of costs by avoiding redundancies in the production process. Overall, detailed scheduling involves striking a balance between inventory and workflow to ensure a smooth production.
- A manager that is concerned with a supply chain process will take what approach towards collaboration and external and internal processes?
External-internal collaboration is a critical aspect in ensuring the success of a supply chain process. The concept of collaboration in this field entails both internal and external integration. Internally, this philosophy includes the coordination of logistical activities with other functional organs in the company while on the external front; it comprises the integration of logistics aspects with those of their clientele in the supply chain network (Holweg, Disney, Holmström, & Småros, 2005). Therefore, managers should take appropriate approaches to achieve success. In respect to internal processes, a manager should adopt a holistic approach to supply chain and integrate across all core functions on establishing and strengthening friendships. The involvement of major stakeholders across business functions helps to optimize organizational performance by averting prospective conflicts or dominance of one party over others (Holweg et al., 2005). Thus, this approach will ensure a flawless exchange of goods along the supply chain network.
Similarly, a manager need to approach the external process with the aim of improving outcomes. Collaboration in this area should focus on fostering relationships with clients, suppliers, and logistics providers by sharing relevant information and assets (Holweg et al., 2005). This form of collaboration prevents the possibility of process duplication and redundancies in inventory management. Most importantly, improved relationships amongst key players will enable a company to avoid losses related to supply or delivery delays due to miscommunication. Therefore, managers should focus on developing strong relationships with various major stakeholders along the supply chain network.
- Briefly explain the advantage or disadvantage of a traditional strategy.
The core disadvantage of the traditional strategy process is its inability to adapt to the changing business environment. The model was designed to function in a stable or predictable environment, which many of the contemporary businesses do not experience any more (Recklies, 2015). The emergence of new technology and the rise of globalization have disrupted the conventional business models, thus requiring companies to change their business strategies continuously to gain competitive advantages. In the context of modern environment, the traditional strategy is not appropriate for the changing situations. Therefore, a company may fail to predict the future if it entirely depends on this approach to forecast. Additionally, the conventional strategy is slow in keeping pace with speed of change. The model significantly relies on in-depth and time-consuming analyses (Recklies, 2015). In the face of vastly changing environment, time is a major resource among successful companies. For this reason, the traditional strategy may prevent organizations from changing swiftly to adapt to the new reality.
- What types of things would be considered “Output” in a supply chain?
Supply chain network entails different aspects that revolve around the concepts of input and output. Like input, the things that may be considered outputs depend on the function of each stakeholder in the supply chain. From supplies to the customers, the movement of goods involve a trade-off between inputs and outputs. For suppliers, the output may entail the amount of goods they generate from their investments. For example, the amount of canes produced can be considered output for sugar cane farmers. At the manufacturing level, output may take a similar approach. For instance, it may entail the amount of finished products that a company produces at a given point in time. On the same token, it may involve the amount of service that a firm provides to customers within a specific period. Furthermore, output may include the amount of productivity achieved by employees with a certain period. At the logistics level, output may entail the number of deliveries within a specified time. At the same time, the benefits of obtained from the acquired products or services may considered as outputs at the customer level.