Lawn King is a manufacturer of lawn mowers facing a highly seasonal demand for its products. At the present time the demand forecast for the coming year has just been increased. This is causing management to evaluate the accuracy of the forecast, and to construct several different production strategies (level, chase, second shift) for meeting demand.
The purpose of this case is to illustrate the issues typically encountered in Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP). The student is asked to make a demand forecast, to construct alternative production strategies and to recommend a particular strategy. A substantial amount of "pencil pushing" and "computer pushing" is required in this case to develop and evaluate the various strategies. The case illustrates the tradeoffs involved in S&OP.
Required:
1. Develop a forecast to use as a basis for S&OP?
2. Develop an S&OP plan by month for fiscal 2015. Consider the use of several different production strategies. Which strategy do you recommend? Use of Excel will greatly save time in making these plans?