Green Mills Aggregate Planning Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP)
IMPORTANT!!! You cannot utilize any research on the Internet to seek answers for this assignment. I am looking for your analysis only–these assignments are not research ones and do not require any information other than information given in the course lessons.
I. Assignment Objectives:
1. Utilize Aggregate Planning as a tool to compare various S&OP design strategies. In the competitive environment that exists today, firms need to constantly evaluate their supply chains and determine methods to be more responsive and efficient.
2. Evaluate and quantify (where possible) the plans you develop.
3. Develop a Professional PowerPoint slide presentation that engages your audience to accept your proposal.
II. Assignment Overview:
Green Mills is currently considering an aggregate plan for next year. This plan is given in “V. Example of Green Mills “Proposed Plan” and is shown below. It will be referred to as “The Proposed Plan.”
Based on the assignment questions you are to develop two alternative plans…
1. A “Level Plan”
2. A plan that must have a lower total cost than the “Proposed Plan.”
You are to develop 4-5 five PowerPoint slides to be presented to the Board of Directors (BOD) from Green Mills. You are to assume that you are working for a consulting firm and the Board of Directors at Green Mills will evaluate your report.
Your calculations are required to be included (Excel files are expected for at least the level plan and the mixed plan.)
Linear programming (for example Excel Solver) cannot be used for any of the work associated with this assignment. You will utilize this approach in other courses.
Your responses to the Green Mills assignment questions are to be organized into a professional PowerPoint presentation as described above. PowerPoint slides, by necessity, must be brief. Therefore, use the notes feature to justify or more fully explain the bullet point content of a slide.
Do not leave the instructor guessing on the meaning of a particular slide. You might think of the notes as containing material you would verbalize when presenting your slides. Please, do not write volumes in the notes section. Be concise but clear on the meaning of each slide. All your extra information about a particular slide must fit on that 8.5 by 11 portrait version of the “Notes” page for a particular slide. Also do not re-write the question on the notes slide. Please just write either Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. at the top of the notes section.
There may be multiple sets of questions associated with this case and some of the questions contain multiple parts or sub-questions. Please be certain to address each part of each question set. Also, please be sure that you make it clear to the reader that you have addressed each part of each question. This information should be very clear in the “Notes” section and will have to appear on the slide portion of the presentation.
When you are asked to make a choice or take a position in answering a question, be certain to present the argument or justification for your choice. In support of your position, it is often useful to draw on the literature that you have read for the course.
Note: Arguments can be used to positively affirm a particular position as well as to indicate that alternatives are not worthy of support. In other words, sometimes you can support a position by effectively arguing against other alternatives.
Please note: you should place citations on the slides as needed that illustrate the problems/questions/goals/objectives, etc. you are trying to obtain.
III. Assignment Formatting:
1. All extra information about a slide must fit on that 8.5 by 11 portrait version of the “Notes” page for a slide.
2. Use bullets on the slides…no long sentences or paragraphs.
3. Please use proper citations, when necessary, on the appropriate slides. Do not plagiarize.
4. All Excel worksheets (tabs) must fit on one page and be in a landscape mode. One spreadsheet/tab per page.
5. Any appendices type slides must be numbered and have a title. You cannot have more than one appendix per slide. You can only use one side of the paper.
IV. Helpful Hints:
A. General constraints and inputs
B. Guidance on specific questions:
Level Strategy:
• Initial staffing level is 20 employees (FTE)
• Initial Inventory is 0 board feet
• Aim to minimize the final inventory while remaining within the constraints and minimizing cost
• Inventory from Chile needs to be shipped at $50/1000bf
• We are not considering any backordering in this case
Strategy That Has A Total Lower Cost Than the “Proposed Plan”:
• Initial staffing level is 20 employees (FTE)
• Initial Inventory is 0 board feet
• Shipping cost is not necessary to include for subcontracted production. It’s included in the subcontractor rate
• We are not considering
• any backordering in this case
V. Example of Green Mills “Proposed Plan”:
This Excel Spreadsheet shows the “Proposed Plan” that Green Mills is considering using for this upcoming year.
VI. Assignment Questions:
Please answer the following questions in your slides:
Create a 4-5 slide PowerPoint presentation, which communicates succinct and concise analysis and recommendations (Remember: some supervisors will not read beyond the headline of each slide). One slide should be dedicated to each question. The ‘notes’ section should be utilized to provide further detail and context to the slides. Note the slides above do not include the agenda, objective nor the summary slide.
1. Graph the demand over time (Demand and Total Production on y-axis, January through December; Time by month on x-axis). Place both the Level Plan and your team’s proposed plan on the same graph. What does this graph tell you…Explain! This question has two parts: (5 points)
a. The actual graph
b. The explanation of what it tells you.
2. This question has two parts: (5 points)
a. List all costs and their values that your team used in your calculations.
i. For example, Production costs, $150 per 1000 board feet
b. List all constraints the case has placed on the calculations
i. For example, Maximum shipping capacity, 1500000 board feet per month
3. Develop and calculate the total cost of a ‘Level Strategy’ at Green Mills while considering the constraints and operating conditions laid out in the case as well as in the ‘Helpful Hints’ section of this document. Interpret the drivers of the total cost and implications to the broader business decision. (40 points)
a. Include the synthesis of your findings in the team’s PowerPoint Presentation and an Excel spreadsheet depicting your work. Please use the format provided in the example of the Green Mills Proposed Plan listed above (Part V. Example of Green Mills “Proposed Plan”). You team’s Excel Spreadsheets should look like this example.
You can also refer to Level and Chase strategies provided in the course material as some general backup references.
b. The goal should be to finish the year with lowest total cost. Remember you need to include shipping costs on items shipped from Chile and if you cannot import enough material from Chile—you must buy on the USA spot market!
4. Develop and calculate the total cost of a plan (mixed or other) which is less costly than the level one and the proposed plan (in Part V Example above) they are considering, aiming to obtain the lowest cost possible, while maintaining within the constraints and operating conditions laid out in the case as well as in the ‘Helpful Hints’ section of this document. (40 points)
a. Include the synthesis of your findings in the team’s PowerPoint Presentation and an Excel spreadsheet depicting your work. Please use the format provided in the example of the Green Mills Proposed Plan listed above (Part V. Example of Green Mills “Proposed Plan”). Your Excel Spreadsheets should look like this example.
You can also refer to Level and Chase strategies provided in the course material as some general backup references.
b. The goal should be to finish the year with lowest total cost. Remember you need to include shipping costs on items shipped from Chile and if you cannot import enough material from Chile—you must buy on the USA spot market