Pass the CIPS Level 4 Diploma in Procurement and Supply L4M7 Questions and answers with ValidTests

Explanation

Material requirement planning (MRP) is a production planning and material (inventory) control system used in manufacturing. Objectives of MRP are to ensure materials are available for production while minimising inventory and to plan production and procurement activities.

Bill of materials (BOM) is an important component of MRP. BOM is also known as product struc-turer. This lists all the items that comprise each assembly and sub-assembly that make up the final product or end item. Therefore, MRP is commonly used to manage dependent demand stock.

Demand forecasting accuracy relies on the validity and reliability of available data. Forecasting is strengthened when information sources are credible, accurate, and consistently updated. In whole-life asset management, precise forecasting minimizes excess inventory and aligns inventory levels with demand, reducing holding costs and improving supply chain efficiency.

Decommissioning is the process of safely retiring equipment from use. It involves steps such as cleaning, dismantling, and responsibly disposing of the asset, especially if it contains hazardous materials. Whole-life asset management includes decommissioning as a key phase, ensuring that assets are disposed of cost-effectively and in compliance with environmental standards.

Explanation

In a traditional warehouse, storage racks are arranged to create parallel picking aisles, perhaps with one or more cross aisles to allow workers to move quickly between picking aisles. This structure forces workers to travel rectilinear distances (north-south and east-west) to picking locations.

Kevin R. Gue and Russell D. Meller proposed alternative aisle designs:

- The 'Fan' shaped layout (or “Flying V”). This layout maintains parallel picking aisles, but al-lows the cross aisle to take on a different shape. If travel begins and ends at the bottom of the V, Gue and Meller expected distance to retrieve a single pallet is 10% less in this warehouse than in an equivalent traditional design.

- The Herringbone-shaped layout (or commonly referred as Fishbone layout) combines the verti-cal picking rows of a traditional warehouse with a second set of horizontal picking rows, divided by a V-shaped diagonal alley crossing the entire warehouse. This simple modification to the typical warehouse design allows employees (e.g. a forklift driver) to increase travel speed between picking locations. Efficiency gains achieved through a layout reconfiguration would reduce picking cost up to 23% compared to an equivalent warehouse using a traditional configuration.

Reference

Aisle Design - Kevin Gue

LO 1, AC 1.1

Explanation

Price setting mechanisms fall into two main categories: fixed and variable. A fixed price mecha-nism is a straightforward concept which typically results in a relatively stable budget that can be forecast. Variable mechanisms have an element of variable pricing per unit bought.

Setting a fixed price mechanism is in theory a relatively simple and straightforward concept, where the collector and the buyer agree on a fixed price for a specific material or mix of materials, for a certain length of time.

All other pricing mechanisms that are not fixed have an element of variable pricing per unit bought.

The most common variable pricing mechanisms can be divided into two groups:

1. Where the benefit accruing to the buyer from acquiring the material is used to calculate what the payment to the seller should be; or Approaches to Materials Sales: A guide for local authorities

2. Where the price paid is indexed to a published source of market price information. The above scenario demonstrates variable pricing mechanism using published sources on inflation rate and exchange rate. CIPS also refers this mechanism as adjustable prices.

Explanation

An inventory write-off is a process of removing from the general ledger any inventory that has no value.

Using the direct write-off method, a business will record a credit to the inventory asset account and a debit to the expense account. For example, say a company with $100,000 worth of inventory decides to write off $10,000 in inventory at the end of the year. First, the firm will credit the inventory account with the value of the write-off to reduce the balance. The value of the gross inventory will be reduced as such: $100,000 - $10,000 = $90,000. Next, the inventory write-off expense account will be increased with a debit to reflect the loss.

The expense account is reflected in the income statement, reducing the firm’s net income and thus its retained earnings. A decrease in retained earnings translates into a corresponding decrease in the shareholders’ equity section of the balance sheet.

If the inventory write-off is immaterial, a business will often charge the inventory write-off to the cost of goods sold (COGS) account. The problem with charging the amount to the COGS account is that it distorts the gross margin of the business, as there is no corresponding revenue entered for the sale of the product. Most inventory write-offs are small, annual expenses. A large inventory write-off (such as one caused by a warehouse fire) may be categorized as a non-recurring loss.

When disposing of hazardous waste, it is essential to:

Identify the type of waste: Some waste requires special handling and disposal by certified organizations.

Comply with legislation: Proper disposal is mandated by local, national, or international waste management laws, ensuring public safety and environmental protection.

Whole-life asset management emphasizes responsible decommissioning practices to minimize environmental impact and adhere to regulatory compliance.

Explanation

Master production schedule (MPS) plans items that have “direct” demand, or “independent de-mand.” With independent demand, the demand comes from sales orders, service orders, or fore-casts, and the demand comes directly from customer—or forecasted—requirements. It is the list that provides the timing of the production schedule and shows how much each machine can produce, how many shifts are used, etc.

A bill of materials (BOM) is a comprehensive inventory of the raw materials, assemblies, subas-semblies, parts and components, as well as the quantities of each, needed to manufacture a product.