Aggregate Planning in Services

Some service organizations conduct aggregate planning in exactly the same way as we did in Examples 1 through 5 in this chapter, but with demand management taking a more active role. Because most services pursue combinations of the eight capacity and demand options discussed earlier, they usually formulate mixed aggregate planning strategies. In industries such as banking, trucking, and fast foods, aggregate planning may be easier than in manufacturing.

Controlling the cost of labor in service firms is critical. Successful techniques include:

  1. Accurate scheduling of labor-hours to ensure quick response to customer demand

  2. An on-call labor resource that can be added or deleted to meet unexpected demand

  3. Flexibility ...

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