Capacity planning and control entails the research techniques for addressing the issue of scheduling business applications, planning the allocation of resources, controlling inventory through routing or queuing and having the problem solving techniques in place for various departments.
The planning and controlling approaches include optimization techniques. The function in this approach is diminishing or maximization of business elements to meet the least expenditure objectives within a constrained operating environment.
A big problem is broken down to ease complexity and thus speeding up computation. A problem can decompose to allow efficiency in and ability to handle the uncertainties adequately. Secondly, dynamic approach allows the business owner or analyst to make decisions sequentially in a multi-stage pattern. A problem is recursively related to solutions come up with most effective results or conclusion.
A complex problem can be decomposed to various sub-problems and the solution to one problem create a sequentially dependent framework such that the solution of a sub-problem emerges from the preceding solution meaning that the whole problem is one, broken into various parts but the preceding resolutions are independent of each other. The other approach entails sensitivity analysis.
The management have to analyze hypothetically, logically or substantially, the most important functions of the firm. This must be the key element of the business that triggers major changes in the business performance and examines the most important factors for the revolution.
The definition of this approach is a procedure of examining impacts over changes and their effects as outputs. (Dodds, 2008) One has to evaluate reasonable limits for change or the individual impact on other independent measures of business quality. This approach rarely features independent usage because it has the sole purpose of challenging other business points for optimal performance. Its main usage occurs after other approaches, to determine their viability or validity. Lastly is the probabilistic and risk analysis approach.
This represents a major departure from the main deterministic view. The analysis has a subjective basis on judgements made by the experts, business planners or analysts. The consideration entails correlations along with uncertainties to gauge cost and performance. Compared to deterministic or fixed-point approaches, the probabilistic approach offers additional information of chances and range sensitivity.
These approaches entail some common techniques and the business manager ought to base their decisions on the method to implement, by checking on the primary functionality of optimisation or delineation of the differences in the approaches. They can also support their decisions on simulation based on the systems dynamics, analysis of scenarios, sensitivity and the probability of a risk.
The last basis is upon decision analysis using various theoretic techniques. The main aim of these approaches is to analyse uncertainties in a business such as risks to develop comprehensive understanding on demands and create awareness within the business. Measuring capacity entails finding the distinction between the inputs or output measures of a business capacity.
The best approach therefore finds the real capacity that depends on the exact mix of activities to be undertaken. The effective capacity management is dependent on the disaggregate nature of the demand thus the reason for some adjustments to accommodate detailed planning.
Today integration of various approaches is in use with the aim of meeting the unique specification of a certain demand and at the same time integrates all of them to function as a single unit. Arguably, the best fitting approach to most business would be dynamic approach to solutions incorporated with sensitivity analysis.
References
Dodds, B. (2008). Pandemic Planning and Business Continuity. Web.