An organisation’s sales plans and marketing initiatives usually address the demand options. Operations managers usually address the capacity options and develop strategies to adjust capacity. If an organisation selects one option, it has a pure strategy for meeting demand. When an organisation selects two or more capacity options, it has a mixed strategy. There are eight aggregate planning strategies: five capacity options and three demand options.
Capacity options:
Changing inventory levels
Varying workforce size by hiring or layoffs
Varying production through overtime or idle time
Subcontracting
Using part-time workforce
Demand options:
Influencing demand through incentives
Back-ordering during high-demand periods
Counter-seasonal product (or service) mixing
Generally speaking, capacity planning will use some mix of three ‘pure’ approaches; level capacity, chase demand, and demand management.
briefly discuss which of the above strategies is used by your workplace? If none of them is used, which of these strategies you would choose to use and why?