Lawn King Case

Words: 1238
Pages: 5

Lawn King has a sales problem. Based on feedback from its best customers, it is apparent that Lawn King has missed out on some potential sales given a lack of inventory during months with peak demand. This lack of inventory results in back-order timelines that customers find unacceptable or cumbersome causing them to look for alternatives. Lawn King must come up with an aggregate plan for operations which will serve have the right amount of inventory on hand given the seasonal cycles of demand they it sees. This analysis will review the problems and opportunities which Lawn King faces, evaluate the benefits and shortfalls of several potential aggregate plans, and recommend one for implementation.
Problems and Opportunities for Lawn King
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Each monthly aggregate was then divided by total 2010 sales to arrive at a monthly percentage of total sales. Exhibit 3 from the textbook was used to calculate the percentage increase of actual sales from 2009 to 2010. This percentage was determined to be 21.7%. This growth percentage was then applied to 2010 sales to arrive at a proportionate 2011 sales forecast that assumed an identical growth rate as the 2009 to 2010 sales experienced. The 2011 total aggregate sales forecast was determined to be 102,958. This value was rounded to an even 103,000 units. A 2011 monthly sales forecast was developed using the 2010 monthly percentages of annual sales. This approach assures that the 2011 sales forecast matches the seasonal cyclical sales pattern experienced in previous years. The 2011 Sales Forecast can be found in Appendix …show more content…
The total number of monthly workers was selected so monthly production matches or just exceeds monthly demand. In this strategy, the range of workers required to operate the factory will swing many times throughout the year and cover anywhere from 16 to 329 workers depending on the month. This strategy is by far the costliest strategy evaluated and results in very significant cost associated with hiring and firing throughout the year. These costs would be better applied elsewhere. It would most likely also push production capacity beyond factory constraints at certain high-demand points during the year, making this strategy difficult to