APICS Updated CSCP Exam Questions and Answers by keyaan

The synchronization of supply and demand across a supply chain is critically dependent on the transparency and flow of demand information. Sharing demand information ensures that all parties in the supply chain, including suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors, have visibility into the actual market demand. This visibility helps in aligning production schedules, inventory levels, and delivery plans with real-time demand, reducing the bullwhip effect, and enhancing responsiveness and efficiency. Placing large orders, reducing the number of deliveries, or maintaining increased inventories may offer some benefits, but they do not directly facilitate the alignment of supply with actual demand.

For products with predictable demand and low profit margins, competition is often based on the lowest landed cost. Here's why:

Cost Sensitivity: Low-margin products are sensitive to cost fluctuations, making cost control critical for maintaining profitability.

Price Competition: In markets with predictable demand, customers often choose suppliers based on price, making the lowest landed cost a competitive advantage.

Landed Cost: The total cost of a product delivered to the buyer, including production, transportation, tariffs, and handling, determines its competitiveness.

Efficiency: Efficient supply chain operations that minimize costs across the entire supply chain help achieve the lowest landed cost.

Supply chain flexibility is the ability of a supply chain to respond effectively to changes in customer demand, market conditions, or supply disruptions1. One of the performance measurements that identifies supply chain flexibility is the percent of unplanned orders that can be shipped within the same week. This metric indicates how well a supply chain can handle unexpected or urgent orders from customers, without compromising the service level or quality2. A higher percent of unplanned orders that can be shipped within the same week means a higher supply chain flexibility, as it shows that the supply chain can adapt quickly and efficiently to demand fluctuations3.

Impact of Promotions on Demand: Evaluating the impact of promotions requires understanding how promotions influence customer demand. Demand planning involves forecasting and analyzing customer demand patterns.

Relevant Data: Demand planning provides historical sales data, predictive analytics, and customer insights that are critical for assessing the potential uplift in sales due to promotions.

Production, Inventory, and Transportation: While production scheduling, inventory management, and transportation planning are important, they do not directly provide data on customer demand, which is essential for evaluating promotion impacts.

References

Chopra, S., & Meindl, P. (2015). "Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operation." Pearson.

Christopher, M. (2016). "Logistics & Supply Chain Management." Pearson UK.