Operations Planning and Process Improvement

This unit develops students’ abilities to forecast demand, balance capacity and inventory, and apply aggregate planning to meet service and production goals. Students will also practice quality and lean tools, risk and disruption planning, and supply-chain alignment to prepare for strategic operations decision-making.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze historical demand data and apply basic forecasting techniques (e.g., moving averages, seasonality) to produce demand projections that inform planning decisions
• Apply aggregate planning strategies and inventory control methods (including make-to-stock vs. make-to-order, safety stock, and EOQ concepts) to balance capacity and inventory with projected demand
• Demonstrate process improvement and quality management techniques (such as lean principles, root-cause analysis, and PDCA) to reduce waste, address defects, and lower wait times in service and back-office operations
• Evaluate supply-chain alignment, digital process maps, and risk registers to identify vulnerabilities and recommend mitigation strategies for disruptions, project failure, and customer-focused improvements