The question below is from the attached image of a video case file from Operations Management: Processes and Supply Chains (11th Edition) by by Krajewski, L. J., Malhotra, M. K. & Ritzman, L. P.
1. The Marker Maker product recently experienced an unexpected surge in demand and the supply chain’s agility was credited with helping to meet the crisis. We have discussed four ways to classify operational inventories by how they are created. Regarding the ways managers can use these inventories to satisfy demand, explain how Crayola can achieve the flexibility to adjust to unexpected demand surges.
Transcribed Image Text: VIDEO CASE
Inventory Management at Crayola
Managing inventory at Crayola is a fine balancing act. With the back-to-
school period driving 42% of company demand for crayons, markers, paints,
modeling compounds and other products, production starts in February so
enough finished goods are in the 800,000 square foot warehouse in time to
supply 3,600 Walmarts, 1,400 Targets, and thousands of other retailers in
the United States for the fall school supply rush.
This means demand forecasts for raw materials in the master produc-
tion schedule must be developed months before any of the finished products
move to those retail customers. Lead times range from 60 days for domestic
raw materials sources to upwards of 90 days for finished goods from suppli-
ers outside the United States. As production ramps up for the back-to-school
season well before the first day of classes, Crayola plans inventory levels for
the entire year so that production remains reasonably steady. While the back-
to-school season represents the lion's share of annual sales, holiday sales
account for 35% of revenues, and the rest comes from spring sales. Crayola
has over 1,500 SKUS, with close to 225 top sellers, so accurate forecasts are
essential.
Historical sales patterns as well as orders generated by its U.S. sales di-
visions located in Easton, Pennsylvania (headquarters), Bentonville, Arkansas
(near Walmart's headquarters), and Minneapolis (near Target's headquarters)
help managers attain the accuracy needed. Marketing co-branding for the
latest movies and comic books plays a role in creating the forecast for new
SKUS and bundles, which must be coordinated to hit retailers the same time
the movies and comics debut or the company risks missing the market and
ending up with inventory that can't easily be sold.
Crayola's inventory holding costs run about 25%, and its average
inventory value is $110 million. The company must assure there is ware-
house space for finished goods as well as raw materials used in production.
Pigments, clays, and packaging materials are moved from the warehouse
and positioned close to the production lines, using a Kanban system to pull raw
Crayola must supply customers with nearly 1,500 products, which requires
an average inventory investment of $110 million. Finished goods inventory,
shown here, must be stored in advance of seasonal demand peaks, such as
the back-to-school period, which accounts for 42 percent of annual demand.
Transcribed Image Text: INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 9
355
materials inventory as needed. Rail tanker cars from Louisiana and Pennsylvania
carying paraffin wax are delivered twice a week for crayon production. Since the
rail cars feed directly into production, any disruption in delivery has the poten-
tial for shutting down production. Bad weather is a particular risk in this part
of the company's supply chain since it can prevent the transport of goods
during hurricanes or snowstorms.
Crayola attempts to source as many raw materials from domestic
sources as possible. Cartons, clay, ink, labels and corrugated boxes come
from the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, while those plastic compo-
nents Crayola does not manufacture on site, such as nibs for markers, are
sourced from Asia and can take up to 120 days to ship through the Panama
Canal to the Port of Newark. Materials used in kits and bundles come from
As a countermeasure, Crayola established duplicate capacities in China and
the U.S. to meet the aggregate potential demand. In China, the company pro-
duced the original forecast and delivered to customers as planned. However,
when the actual demand was 26% over the original forecast, Crayola could
meet the surge in demand because it had positioned the long lead time ink
bottles in its Pennsylvania plants and was able to mold the plastic parts using
marker components from its core marker product. By utilizing existing machine
capacity in its plants, reducing the lead time of ink bottles by making them in
Pennsylvania, and by duplicating tooling, Crayola was able to ensure that its
customers and consumers were satisfied during the holiday season.
QUESTIONS
Korea, China, Vietnam and Brazil, and face similar shipping logistics.
When considering work-in-process inventories at Crayola, paints, mark-
ers, modeling clays, and many of the crayons coming off the production line
are boxed into trays for use downstream in creating kits and bundles. These
items are considered work-in-process items, even though the individual units
are finished goods (i.e., a crayon or marker is completely manufactured once
it comes off the line). The same is true for marker barrels, paint pots and
other plastics. Specialized equipment is used to make these items which feed
downstream production.
Recently, Crayola's leadership expected that actual demand for its popu-
lar Marker Maker© toy product might come in higher than the original forecast.
1. Consider the pressures for small vs. large inventories. Which situation
does Crayola seem to fit, and why?
2. Explain how both independent and dependent demand items are pres-
ent at Crayola.
3. The Marker Maker© product recently experienced an unexpected surge
in demand and the supply chain's agility was credited with helping to
meet the crisis. We have discussed four ways to classify operational
inventories by how they are created. Regarding the ways managers
can use these inventories to satisfy demand, explain how Crayola can
achieve the flexibility to adjust to unexpected demand surges.