Mary Rhodes, operations manager at Northeast Furniture, received the following demand forecast:
Jan: 1,000
Feb. 1,200
March 1,400
April 1,800
May 1,800
June 1,600
Assume stockout costs for lost sales of $100 per unit, inventory carrying costs of $25 per unit per month and zero beginning and ending inventory. Evaluate the following two plans on an incremental cost basis:
Alternative 1: Produce at a steady rate, equal to minimum requirements, of 1,000 units per month. Subcontract enough additional units, at $60 per unit premium cost, to avoid lost sales.
a. What is the cost of alternative 1?
b. What is the total holding (inventory) cost?
Alternative 2: Vary the workforce to match monthly demand. The current workforce most recently produced 1,300 units last month. The cost of hiring workers is $3,00 per 100 units of capacity increase, while firing is $6,000 per 100 units of capacity decrease.
a. What is the total cost of alternative 2?
b. How many units are produced via regular time production?
c. Which alternative has lower incremental cost?
