You have recently joined BCC Consulting group as a senior partner (the highest role to which a professional can advance within the organisation). You have been informed that this role requires dedication, experience and passion and will provide you with many opportunities for growth and specialisation. As part of your responsibilities, you have been given several clients in which you are expected to provide solutions to their highlighted problems. You have been given a brief containing a description of the issues that you need to address. QUESTION 1: WHEELED COACH (40 MARKS) Controlling inventory is one of Wheeled Coach's toughest problems. Operating according to a strategy of mass customization and responsiveness, management knows that success is dependent on tight inventory control. Anything else results in an inability to deliver promptly, chaos on the assembly line, and a huge inventory investment. Wheeled Coach finds that almost 50% of the cost of every ambulance it manufactures is purchased materials. A large proportion of that 50% is in chassis (purchased from Ford), aluminium (from Reynolds Metal), and plywood used for flooring and cabinetry construction (from local suppliers). Wheeled Coach tracks these inventory items quite carefully, maintaining tight security/control and ordering carefully to maximize quantity discounts while minimizing on-hand stock. Because of long lead times and scheduling needs at Reynolds, aluminium must be ordered as much as 8 months in advance. In a crowded ambulance industry in which it is the only giant, its 45 competitors do not have the purchasing power to draw the same discounts as Wheeled Coach. But this competitive cost advantage cannot be taken lightly, according to President Bob Collins, "cycle counting in our stockrooms is critical. No part can leave the locked stockrooms without appearing on a bill of materials." Accurate bills of material (BOM) are a requirement if products are going to be built on time. Additionally, because of the custom nature of each vehicle, most orders are won only after a bidding process. Accurate BOMs are critical to cost estimation and the resulting bid. For these reasons, Collins was emphatic that Wheeled Coach maintain outstanding inventory control. 1.1 If you were to provide advice to the inventory control manager at Wheeled Coach about the inventory management policies and techniques that need to be initiated to ensure accurate inventory records, critically discuss the contents of your report and explain on how these should be implemented. (50) 1.2 One of the challenges that the organisation must constantly address is to ensure that there is a balance between demand and supply and that fluctuations are closely monitored and controlled. As a seasoned consultant, examine the various approaches that can be adopted by the organisation in managing and controlling these fluctuations. (20)