Demand Management
DEMAND MANAGEMENT INTRODUCTION Demand management involves recognising and managing all sources of demand for products with the objective of keeping the master scheduler posted. ... Demand management is a particularly important matter for the operations manager, as it forms a rational basis for planning and scheduling within the business (Adendorff, 1997:93) In the context of operations management forecasting can be defined as determining the demand for a product produced by the business, as influenced by any future events. The forecast may estimate the extent of the demand, or predict a particular event, or be concerned with the timing of an event which will influence the business. ... Recording orders in an important component of demand management. ... The demand as embodied by the customers’ orders is not the only source of demand for the business’s products, however. The business may have more than one plant, which may also services source of demand. The business could have subsidiaries or branches which could generate demand for the products. Furthermore there may be a need for service or replacement parts which could represent an independent demand for components or assemblies (usually dependent demand items) (Adendorff, 1997:94). Demand management holds certain advantages for a business, for example better materials management, better utilisation of capital and production facilities, and improve customer service. ... FACTORS INFLUENCING DEMAND PATTERNS The factors that influence demand are demonstrated in Figure 1, as seen below. ... The internal factors which may influence demand are the product life cycle, the service level the business would like to maintain, the quality of the product as well as any other actions taken by the business to ensure quality.