Master Planning

Directing and controlling the activities involved in producing goods and services, while optimizing the management of strategic inventory assets, has become a critical objective for businesses in the 21st century. Companies intent on competing in a global marketplace must deliver with excellent efficiency and effectiveness in order to support long term profitable growth. Firms strive to manage the increased complexities of shortened product life cycles, rapidly changing technology, and globalization while addressing customers' demands for greater product selection. The systematic approach to planning and executing business strategy offered by an engineered Manufacturing Planning and Control (MPC) System affords such businesses the opportunity to deliver to the global marketplace in profitable ways. The MPC System has proven itself to be a key enabler of achieving competitive advantage through quality, precision, speed, agility in production and elimination of waste. This course will explore the MPC System following the trajectory that was established in the INV 2220 course. We will begin with a discussion of planning and managing capacity in production operations, and will move forward to develop an understanding of how world-class businesses control production activities. Just-in-Time (JIT) concepts will be defined, and their application in manufacturing planning and control will be examined. Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) will be explored. The course will then proceed to review the Management of Supply Chain Logistics, and examine how best-in-class organizations manage inventory. In particular, the functions of inventory, inventory control and inventory management methods, and the various costs associated with inventory will be explored. In summary, the class will discuss Strategy and MPC System Design, considering such issues as extending MPC integration to customers and suppliers, and incorporation of JIT principles into organizational culture.