Trapper Lawn Equipment Company The Trapper Lawn Equipment Company manufactures a line of riding mowers. The company currently uses a chase strategy in its SOP. Employees can produce three units a day on average. The historical records for the last three months and planned sales for the next four months are given as follows: History November December Plan January February Future April October March 12.50 5,000 4,384 5.00 2.000 16.25 6,500 6,065 5.00 2,000 Sales Plan (in million $) (in units) Actual (in units) Difference month Difference cumulative 7.50 3,000 10.00 4,000 10.00 4,000 3,626 -374 -990 -616 -435 -1,425 5,000 72 23 5,649 649 20 21 23 20 Operations Plan (in units) (in employees) Number working days/mo. Actual (in units) Diff. month diff. cumulative Inventory (in units) (in 1,000 $) Actual (in units) Days of supply 4,000 70 19 4,091 91 740 6,500 114 19 7,279 779 1,519 0 0 0 1,270 2,223 2,265 11.9 1,270 2,223 2,730 8.6 1,270 2,223 3,944 39.4 Hires Layoffs Product Sales Value Product Inventory Value Employee Productivity Minimum inventory level $2,500 per unit $1,750 per unit 3 Units/day 5 days of supply (a) Generate a production plan for the next three months (January - March) that will hit an inventory supply target of 5 days if you accept the sales Plan. Fill in all shaded cells above. HINT: Equations 5.1 - 5.4 normally apply to a chase strategy with a days-of-supply target. Try it. You'll see that these calculations result in a negative value for planned production units in January (not permissible). Instead, set planned production to zero in January, then calculate January planned inventory and days of supply. After making this adjustment, you can return to the chase strategy with standard equations 5.1 - 5.4 for the remaining months. (b) What are the implications of your plan, considering the qualitative factors? Trapper Lawn Equipment Company The Trapper Lawn Equipment Company manufactures a line of riding mowers. The company currently uses a chase strategy in its SOP. Employees can produce three units a day on average. The historical records for the last three months and planned sales for the next four months are given as follows: History November December Plan January February Future April October March 12.50 5,000 4,384 5.00 2.000 16.25 6,500 6,065 5.00 2,000 Sales Plan (in million $) (in units) Actual (in units) Difference month Difference cumulative 7.50 3,000 10.00 4,000 10.00 4,000 3,626 -374 -990 -616 -435 -1,425 5,000 72 23 5,649 649 20 21 23 20 Operations Plan (in units) (in employees) Number working days/mo. Actual (in units) Diff. month diff. cumulative Inventory (in units) (in 1,000 $) Actual (in units) Days of supply 4,000 70 19 4,091 91 740 6,500 114 19 7,279 779 1,519 0 0 0 1,270 2,223 2,265 11.9 1,270 2,223 2,730 8.6 1,270 2,223 3,944 39.4 Hires Layoffs Product Sales Value Product Inventory Value Employee Productivity Minimum inventory level $2,500 per unit $1,750 per unit 3 Units/day 5 days of supply (a) Generate a production plan for the next three months (January - March) that will hit an inventory supply target of 5 days if you accept the sales Plan. Fill in all shaded cells above. HINT: Equations 5.1 - 5.4 normally apply to a chase strategy with a days-of-supply target. Try it. You'll see that these calculations result in a negative value for planned production units in January (not permissible). Instead, set planned production to zero in January, then calculate January planned inventory and days of supply. After making this adjustment, you can return to the chase strategy with standard equations 5.1 - 5.4 for the remaining months. (b) What are the implications of your plan, considering the qualitative factors
