CLP Supply Chain Management & Planning 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which demand planning technique uses historical sales data patterns, seasonality, and trends to project future demand?
- Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR)
- Time-series forecasting (Correct answer)
- Causal modeling
- Market simulation
Correct answer: Time-series forecasting
Time-series forecasting analyzes historical data patterns including trends and seasonality to project future demand.
Question 2: In supply chain risk management, 'supply chain visibility' primarily helps organizations do which of the following?
- Reduce transportation costs by 50%
- Identify and respond to disruptions before they escalate (Correct answer)
- Eliminate the need for safety stock
- Automate all procurement decisions
Correct answer: Identify and respond to disruptions before they escalate
Supply chain visibility enables proactive identification and response to disruptions by providing real-time data across the supply chain.
Question 3: A company experiences a sudden spike in customer orders due to a viral social media trend. Which supply chain strategy best addresses this sudden demand surge?
- Reduce safety stock to free up capital
- Activate pre-negotiated surge capacity with contract manufacturers (Correct answer)
- Switch entirely to make-to-order production
- Discontinue the product immediately
Correct answer: Activate pre-negotiated surge capacity with contract manufacturers
Pre-negotiated surge capacity with contract manufacturers allows rapid scaling to meet unexpected demand spikes.
Question 4: What is 'postponement' in supply chain strategy?
- Delaying payment to suppliers to improve cash flow
- Deferring product differentiation as late as possible in the supply chain (Correct answer)
- Postponing new product launches until demand is certain
- Delaying shipments to consolidate loads
Correct answer: Deferring product differentiation as late as possible in the supply chain
Postponement defers product customization or differentiation to the latest feasible point in the supply chain to reduce inventory risk.
Question 5: Which metric measures the total time from when a customer places an order to when it is delivered, including all processing steps?
- Cash-to-cash cycle time
- Order-to-delivery cycle time (Correct answer)
- Throughput time
- Dock-to-stock time
Correct answer: Order-to-delivery cycle time
Order-to-delivery cycle time captures the complete elapsed time from customer order placement through delivery.
Question 6: In Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP), which cross-functional team meeting reviews demand plans, supply plans, and financial projections to reach consensus?
- Executive S&OP meeting (Correct answer)
- Pre-S&OP meeting
- Demand review meeting
- Supply review meeting
Correct answer: Executive S&OP meeting
The Executive S&OP meeting is where senior leadership reviews reconciled demand and supply plans and makes binding decisions.
Question 7: A manufacturer uses a 'pull system' for production scheduling. Which of the following best describes this approach?
- Production is scheduled based on sales forecasts
- Production is triggered by actual customer demand signals (Correct answer)
- Raw materials are pushed through the factory at maximum speed
- Production runs continuously regardless of demand
Correct answer: Production is triggered by actual customer demand signals
A pull system triggers production only in response to actual downstream demand signals, reducing overproduction and excess inventory.
CLP Supply Chain Management & Planning 2
Which demand planning technique uses historical sales data patterns, seasonality, and trends to project future demand?