- 2 The Challenge The President And Ceo Of A T Has Expressed The Opinion That There Is Too Much Spare Parts Inventory In 1 (90.76 KiB) Viewed 87 times
2. The Challenge The president and CEO of A&T has expressed the opinion that there is too much spare-parts inventory in the system, both at the DC and in the field. He believes that, through better inventory management, inventory can be reduced from its present level at the same time that customer service is improved. He has told the manager in charge of the DC in no uncertain terms that his job depends on showing tangible improvements in operating performance over the upcoming year. Partly on the basis of discussions with local university professors, the inventory manager has devised a new stocking policy for the DC that takes into consideration lead time, 1. This new policy computes reorder points as: r = (1.4)(u)(1+10)/365 for all levels of demand unless it is zero in which case r=-1. The maximum inventory level m is computed as before. For the facilities, reorder points are increased from r=u/13 to r=u/6, and for the sites, reorder points are increased from r=u/13 to r=u/8. Maximum inventory levels are unchanged. 2 However, because the inventory manager is worried about his job, he has decided to seek the assistance from the most knowledgeable source he knows, the world renowned first year MMM students. His primary questions are: 1. Is the president right? Is it possible to have less inventory and a better fill rate? 2. Is the new policy he has devised better than the old one? 3. Is there a better policy that he could use that is practical to implement quickly within their current information system (i.e., a standard COBOL data base with fairly limited ability to run complex computational routines)? 4. How should he allocate inventory between the DC and the field? Is there a way to evaluate whether his current allocation is appropriate?