Supply chain planning is a strategic methodology which, when done appropriately, enables in the improvement of the product production and supply. This can assist in reducing costs of production, augment sales and handle relationships with suppliers. It optimized the production as well as delivery of goods from raw materials to end products, and form vendors to customers. Fundamentally, it is a demand based act of balancing surplus and shortage (Reyes, Mula, and Díaz-Madroñero, 2023). Process of supply chain planning involves element like demand forecasting, inventory management, supply and response planning, sales and operations design, supply chain checking, and demand driven refill. Moreover, supply chain control efforts to centrally link or regulate the shipment, manufacturing and product distribution process. It involves components such as order fulfilment, supplier relationship management, distributions and logistics and performance improvement and monitoring. Both supply chain control and planning are important element of handling flow of services and products form the origin point to consumption point. These procedures play a chief role in confirming the effectiveness and efficiency of supply chain of a business.
This report will examine the role of inventory and also types of inventory within supply chain planning and control in business management. It will further assess the inventory approaches utilised in business. Along with this, the report will explain the concept of master production schedule techniques and activities within supply chain planning and control. Towards the end, it will evaluate the structure of bills of materials as well as their significance in supply chain control and planning within business management.
Sample papers and reference materials support students in understanding assignment structure and strengthening academic skills. We provide help with assignment writing service that supports learning while maintaining originality. The OTHM Level 6 Diploma in Logistics and Supply Chain Management Assignment Sample demonstrates key concepts such as inventory control and supply chain planning, and is intended solely for study and reference purposes.
The OTHM Level 6 Diploma in Logistics and Supply Chain Management emphasises a comprehensive understanding of how inventory planning, production scheduling, and material coordination contribute to effective supply chain performance. At this level of study, learners are expected to analyse practical approaches to inventory control, evaluate planning techniques, and understand how structured tools such as master production schedules and bills of materials support operational efficiency within organisations.
Inventory plays a pivotal role in the growth and success of any company, irrespective of its industry or size. Role of inventory in supply chain planning and control covers supervising and controlling the goods flow from production point to the consumption point. Within the learning scope of the OTHM Level 6 Diploma in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, inventory management plays an important role in confirming customer satisfaction and even business operations. Through upholding ideal stock levels, businesses can evade situations of stock out which can result in dissatisfied consumers or lost sales, and at the same time reducing the holding costs related to excess stock.
One of the advantages of proper inventory management is cost savings. Effective inventory management assists in reducing or minimising costs through decreasing carrying costs related to extra stock level (Song, 2021). Holding additional stock ties up capitals which can be better used at any other place. While having inadequate stock can result into production postponements, as well as missed sales opportunities. Searching for and holding to the ideal balance is important for cost improvement. In addition, order fulfilment within the timely manner is chief to keeping the customers satisfied. Appropriate inventory handling confirms that the products are obtainable when the consumers require them, decreasing lead time and the possibility of situations of running out of stock. Happy customers are most probable to become repeat customer as well as brand advocates.
Furthermore, through precisely tracking stock levels and patterns of demand, companies can plan their procurement and production activities in a more effective manner. This results into decreased waste, augmented effectiveness and flawless business operations. When the companies keep a deep check at how much stock they have as well as how many employees they need, it can make their inventory and purchase more stock in a clever way. Moreover, inventory management produces useful and helpful data which can be utilised for predicting, supply chain improvement and demand planning. Precise perceptions allow companies to make decisions that are informed which lines up with preferences of customers and trends in the market. Along with this, product can turn out to be out-dated if they remain not sold for the lengthy periods. Effectual inventory management assists to reduce such risk through confirming that the goods are cycled out prior to becoming obsolete.
Running an effective supply chain needs understanding how to gather and track inventory from beginning to ending (Shokouhifar, Sabbaghi, and Pilevari, 2021). Acquiring knowledge in relation to which stock belong to which group permits a business to improve their business operations and account for each step of the manufacturing process more effectively. There are numerous types of inventory in supply chain planning and control, which are elaborated below:
Depending on the product involved or type of business, an organisation may utilise numerous inventory management approaches. Contemporary approaches of inventory management involve handling and tracking level of stocks in order to confirm that businesses can accomplish demands of customers. Business can make use of numerous approaches of inventory management, which involves:
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A master production schedule (MPS) determines what goods are produced, when they are manufactured, as well as in what numbers or quantities they are produced. It is the overall plan for assessing the manufacturing of finished products, what is required to be manufactured, how much to be produced and when they require to be produced. Such simple schedule can be utilised as a base for further scheduling and planning through the business. It is important because it assists businesses to plan effective manufacture utilising forecasts of expected demand. Further, it can aid in increasing revenue and reducing wastage. MPS procedure covers numerous chief activities which confirm that production agendas or schedules go together as well as resources are utilised in an efficient manner, these activities are as follows:
Demand prediction and capacity planning: Process of MPS begins with demand prediction which involves assessing future demand of customer on the basis of trends in the market, historical information and data and other pertinent factors (Haekal, 2023). This assists companies to determine the anticipate demand patterns and volume for their offerings. Proper demand forecasting will help the business make ideal choices while managing and augmenting business operations. After the demand is predicted, next step is capacity planning. It encompasses of analysing the production capabilities and capacity to know if they are capable of meeting anticipated demand. At this phase, factors like equipment capability, facility restraints and staff availability is considered. The objective is to line up the capacity of production with the expected demand in order to avoid overstraining or under usage of resources.
Material planning and sourcing: At such phase, businesses recognise the raw materials, resource and components needed for production. Material requirement planning (MRP), is an approach used by businesses to assess the elements and materials required for manufacturing, and this method is deeply associated with MPS. Effective material planning confirms timely availability of required material and at the same time reduces inventory costs and the possibility of situations of overstocking or stock outs. Further, other step is procurement, where businesses partner with vendors in order to organise delivery schedules, uphold constant quality standards, and negotiate pricing.
Scheduling, resource distribution and monitoring: It concentrates on developing a thorough production schedule and series of activities in order to confirm even business operations. And resource allocation involves determining optimum allocation of equipment, labour as well as other resources to the particular manufacturing tasks (Oluyisola, et al. 2022). Suring the production process it is very crucial to monitor work progress, confirm compliance with the prepared timeline and, uphold quality standards. The timeline created by master production schedule requires being consistently track growth and needed alternations. Scheduling comprises of assigning tasks to diverse production lines and workstations, taking into account influences such as setup times, dependencies among jobs, and equipment availability.
Numerous techniques are used in MPS model to confirm smooth manufacturing and effective supply chain management within a business. Finite loading is one such technique which includes scheduling or arranging production on the basis of existing capacity. Generally, it allocates works to the work centers on the basis of their accessible capacity as well as the priority of the work orders. This confirms that the structure is not encumbered and that the manufacturing resources are completely used without going beyond their bounds. Moreover, another technique is infinite loading which undertakes that manufacturing materials and component are boundless, and plans production while not taking into account capacity restraints. Normally, it is a technique which allots work order to the work centers while not accounting for availability or capacity. Such techniques are utilised within atmospheres in which there are plentiful resources, and problems associated with capacity are minimum.
Furthermore, another technique used in MPS model is Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP) which determines either a business’s available capacity of production can fulfil its production objectives (Carmody, et al. 2021). CRP first observes the business’s master production schedule and compares it with the accessible capacity in order to confirm that manufacturing could be finished without putting over burden on resources. In addition, priority sequencing is another technique employed in MPS, which specifies the rank or order in which jobs are to done, on the basis of distribution of priorities. For instance, immediate order or products of high demand and priority might be processed through giving high priority within the master production schedule.
Though MPS can assist and improve businesses, it is crucial to be thoughtful of some possible challenges, which involves demand variability, capacity restraints and so no. Precisely forecasting demand is one of the toughest tasks as it can alter as a result of market trends, unforeseen situations or seasonality (Cañas, et al. 2022). Both the production effectiveness as well as customer satisfaction might be influenced by stock outs or overstocking due to imprecise estimates. Moreover, production operations frequently go through issues in context of obtainable resources like raw materials, labour and machinery, which make it tough to fulfil the production goals underscore within the MPS. Such restraints can result into lost deadlines, delays or the requirement to fine-tune the schedule recurrently.
Along with this, disruptions or delays in supplying components or raw material, because of supplier problems, geopolitical influences, or transportation issues, could cast off the MPS, as well as result into manufacturing delays. Also, the efficiency of the MPS depends intensely on concurrent and precise data from numerous departments, like inventory, procurement, sales, etc. Outdates or varying data may result into mistakes within the production timeline or schedule, like uneven priorities or improper stock levels. Immediate changes in the product specification, market circumstances or customer order, which can push producers to consistently adjust their MPS, resulting into inadequacies and increased complication within the process of production.
A bill of materials is defined as an all-inclusive inventory of the subassemblies, assemblies, raw materials, component, parts, and quantities required to produce a product. In simple words, it is an overall list of each and every items needed to create a product. The concept of bills of materials is a key operational planning element studied within the OTHM Level 6 Diploma in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, as it supports effective production planning, procurement, and inventory control. Bill of materials (BOM) involves instructions for sourcing and utilising the materials. It plays a noteworthy role in production, logistics and in entire supply chain management. BOM offers components list utilised to develop product and the number of element needed. Thus, it helps production planners to confirm that all the needed components are obtainable before production moves forward (Esteso, et al. 2023). Further, within logistics, it utilised by procurement performing re-ordering, through transportation and warehousing for storage planning needs like perishability or size, and shipping to consume involving special packaging.
Moreover, there are several types of bills of materials, in which some are specific to different business sectors. Manufacturing BOM (mBOM) is utilised when business requires showing all the assemblies and parts needs to create a finished good. Parts which need processing before assembling should also be involved within the mBOM. Another type is engineering bills of materials (eBOM) is formed during the stage of designing product and is frequently based on electronic design automation and computer-aided design tools. Additionally, the service BOM is another type which is often formed by engineers during the stage of product designing, it usually involves lists of each and every parts, repair instructions and installations steps, service specialists use while servicing or installing a product onsite at the place of business of customer. Not like other types, sales BOM offers details of an end or finished good prior to its assembly during the stage of sales.
Further, the structure of BOM varies as per the complication involved in the production of product, though it usually involves key elements, like:
Bills of materials in important in numerous domains associated with supply chain planning and control. A well-structured and clear BOM assists in upholding the suitable stock or inventory levels for manufacturing requirements. This allows the expectancy of demands and confirms fulfilment of timely basis while reducing costs related to logistics. Such approach everts usual inventory problems like overstocking, backorder and stock outs, and also them repel effects, involving production postponements, downtime or lost productivity. In addition, BOM ensures improved cost control or regulation during the process of procurement. Consumers will have knowledge of the parts required for each and every product. Then, they can negotiate prices with vendors and get volume discounts purchasing in large volume (Stalnaker, et al. 2024). Further, when the BOMs are used effectively in procurement, it leads to improved collaboration and communication with buyers and suppliers. If both of these groups have similar accessibility to the in-depth, correct information, it makes it simple to work out specifications of product and take the right decisions as a team.
Along with this, BOM will offer procurement department with very particular information in relation to the feature of each component and product. This confirms that everything is supplied to a particular standard and at the ideal quality. Moreover, BOM augments the raw material procurement process through evading the gathering of additional stock, it permits for an improved description of costs related to equipment, it averts the dangers of stock outs, since this guarantees the availability of the essential raw materials, as well as decreases the mistakes within manufacturing stage through defining each and every processes. Furthermore, bills of materials offer precise instruction to people involve within the procurement, repair and assembly. Through emphasizing on the materials lists and also their quantities, it helps in predicting need of individual part and eventually confirms that orders are as precise as possible (Franceschetto, et al. 2023). A well-thought-out BOM enables communication among different areas such as production, inventory handling. Procurement and more, which confirms all the teams are lined up within their efforts in order to fulfil production objectives.
Conclusion
On the basis of above study and evaluation, it can be concluded that inventory management is chief in supply chain management, which plays an important role within the profitability of businesses and operational competence. The capability to efficiently handle inventories can make the difference among the failure and success of a company. Further, types of inventory in supply chain planning and control involved raw materials, work-in-process, finished goods and maintenance, report and operations inventory. Moreover, inventory management approaches utilized in business involved just-in-time, economic order quantity, safety stock, vendor-managed inventory system, ABC analysis and drop shipping. Further, concept of master production schedule (MPS) included chief activities like demand prediction and planning the capacity, material planning and sourcing, scheduling resource distribution and monitoring. Diverse techniques utilized in MPS involve finite and infinite loading, capacity requirement planning and priority sequencing.
Moreover, structure of bills of materials (BOM) involves key components like BOM level, part number, part name, phase, description, quantity, unit measure, procurement type and BOM notes. BOM of materials is extremely crucial in various areas which are related to supply chain planning and control such as inventory management, procurement and more. Overall, this report has highlighted the role of inventory as well as types of inventory within supply chain planning and control. It has also assessed the inventory approaches utilized in business, and examined the concepts of master production schedule activities and also techniques. Lastly, the report has been completed through analysing the structure of the bills of materials and also its importance in supply chain planning and control has been discussed.
References
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