Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) Practice Exam

How can the demand plan assist in validating departmental plans?

1. By providing marketing strategies

2. By enabling sales forecasts

3. By allowing operations to verify if plans meet demand

4. By informing stakeholders of hiring needs

The correct answer is: By allowing operations to verify if plans meet demand

The demand plan plays a crucial role in validating departmental plans by allowing operations to verify if their plans align with expected demand. This process involves comparing the production and operational capabilities with the anticipated demand for products or services. When operations use the demand plan, they can assess whether resources, capacities, and schedules are adequate to meet forecasted customer needs. This validation process helps ensure that all departments—such as production, logistics, and inventory management—are synchronized with the overall business strategy aimed at meeting customer demand. By doing so, organizations can avoid issues related to overproduction or underproduction, optimize resource use, and enhance customer satisfaction. The other options, while relevant to overall business planning and strategy, do not specifically address how the demand plan assists in validating departmental plans as directly as the correct choice does. For instance, providing marketing strategies might help align marketing efforts but doesn't directly validate operational capacity against demand. Similarly, enabling sales forecasts is important for understanding potential revenue but doesn’t verify operational plans. Informing stakeholders of hiring needs is critical for workforce planning, yet it does not focus on the alignment of operations with demand.