Planning isn't supposed to be one way. An integrated planning is key for a remaining coordination between sales, production, logistics and procurement. The goal is a consensus between all planning processes.
An optimal production plan is the best compromise between demand based and an on schedule manufacturing and every known restrictive requirements. That includes optimal line assignment, availability of personnel, batch size specifications, inventory capacities and many more...
Only a glimpse into the future enables the control of the present. Demand planning considers all relevant data sources (e.g. market information, marketing campagnes, product life cycles, mathematical forecasting methods etc.) to anticipate the future sales behaviour of the clients as accurate as possible.
It is always challenging to build an optimal order when it comes to line occupancy. The on schedule manufacturing has to get harmonized with an optimal machine utilization. Set-up and cleaning times should be reduced to a minimum and waiting times avoided.
With increasingly complex network structures, challenges to get a coordinated and manageable Supply Chain raise. Alternative procurement channels have to be considered carefully while superseded stocks should be avoided.
An optimal purchase planning should be demand driven and cost-conscious. Basis of the planning is the definition of a sustainable purchasing strategy as well as a procurement management. General conditions like optimal purchase quantities, delivery, inventory capacities and the durability should be considered.
One of the big goals in Supply Chain Planning is ensuring the highest possible product availabilty while having minimal stock costs. Bringing those colliding target variables in harmony is the main task of the inventory planning. With the help of mathematical algorithms, cost optimized stock quantities are getting calculated for default target availabilities within the Supply Chain.
Efficient and stable production processes are a huge success factor of Supply Chain Planning. Those require a digital data recording in real-time, high transparency of all relevant information and the possibility to perform uncomplicated and integrated when it comes to adaptions.
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