Topic 1: Demand Management

Strategic and business planning is closely related to the management of demand, including forecasting and managing the customer interface.

Topic 2: Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP)

Sales and operations planning (S&OP) concepts and techniques are used to link strategic goals to operations and coordinate the various planning efforts of the functional areas, including operations, sales, sourcing, product development, marketing, and finance in a variety of business environments.

Topic 3: Master Scheduling

Master scheduling is the process of translating higher-level aggregate plans into feasible schedules that operations and suppliers can execute.

Topic 1: Inventory Management

Inventory management principles, policies, and techniques impact many other decisions throughout the organization, including stocking levels, order quantities, safety stocks, handling and storage requirements, and financial management.

Topic 2: Planning Material Requirements to Support the Master Schedule

Planning material requirements driven by the master production schedule (MPS), including material requirements planning (MRP), independent demand planning for service parts, matching supply with demand, and managing demand at aggregate and disaggregate levels.

Topic 3: Planning Operations to Support the Priority Plan

Capacity management encompasses planning, establishing, measuring, monitoring, and adjusting levels of capacity to execute the master schedule and related materials plan. It addresses the balancing of the material plans with available internal and external resources and supporting activities, including constraint management, line and flow balancing, and variability and capacity in a transient state

Topic 1: Execution of Operations
Understanding the scheduling processes that translate plans into operational activities. This includes applying methods of authorizing and releasing work, and the management of resources required to accomplish the work. All execution activities rely on an understanding of the decisions made about the organizational environment, strategies, and objectives.
Topic 2: Control of Operations
Control of operations encompasses the ongoing review and management of operational results in comparison to the established near-term plan, followed by analysis and application of any corrective action required to align performance with the plan. Control includes the principles and techniques to accomplish the plan using both internal and external resources.
Topic 3: Quality, Communication, and Continuous Improvement
Management defines the quality and continuous improvement goals of the organization, and uses meaningful communication techniques to educate others and bring about those goals.

Topic 1: Understanding the Business Environment and Developing Corporate Strategy

Operations strategy must be integrated with the corporate strategy of the firm, reflecting the external environment, as well as organizational priorities and philosophies. The operations strategy development process must capture and assimilate that information to provide context for alignment with corporate strategy. Corporate strategy development must consider business environmental factors.

Topic 2: Developing the Operations Strategy

The operations strategy development process must align with the business strategy and reflect the analysis of the business environment. This includes the processes of identifying, evaluating, and choosing among alternatives in the context of the business strategy, and understanding the significance of the various factors in developing the operations strategy.

Topic 3: Implementing the Operations Strategy

Various strategic leadership activities, leadership roles, and responsibilities are necessary for the successful implementation of the operations strategy.