Positive-Sum Game

Certified Inventory Optimization Professional (CIOP) is an end-to-end supply chain certification program. The certification consists of 30 modules focusing both on traditional and futuristic topics. The traditional topics are introduction to supply chain management, all about inventory, strategic business planning, forecasting, demand management, capacity management, sales and operations planning (S&OP), master scheduling (MPS), materials requirements planning (MRP) and production activity control (PAC). It also includes topics on procurement, warehousing, transportation, distribution, and packaging. The topic on the future trends such as Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Machine Learning (M/L) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). There is a significant focus on supporting technologies such as forecasting and process mapping tools such as Microsoft Visio. In addition to the above indicated topics the participants need to master over 3000 terminologies in supply chain management.

Positive-sum game, also known as the economics of sports or the econonomics of football, is an economic theory of how humans engage in competition and solve conflict within the market place. It's based on the assumption that people act in competitive markets with their own self-interests as well as other constraints in mind that maximize their overall satisfaction of personal needs. The key to winning is having the upper hand; and how to have the upper hand is to have the highest amount of total control over the supply, pricing and availability of goods and services. You want to be able to deliver more than your competitors while offering less than they are currently able to offer, and you want to be able to manage the risks that come from competing.

Now, how does one play this positive-sum game successfully? The key is having the right strategic thinking, marketing, production planning and manufacturing plant organization structure, and customer management. This includes having a competitive edge by using leverage in the components of production, by having the lowest prices possible in the components of manufacturing plant, by analyzing the customer so that you know their preferences and their purchasing goals, and by offering the products that most efficiently utilize the capabilities of your assembly line, equipment, parts, and facilities. In addition, the ability to reduce the overall cost of production by not having excess capacity, and by reallocating capital investments to make better use of the existing capacity that you already have. This will also reduce your material costs while increasing your sales revenues.

Having a competitive advantage does not only involve price, however. In order to effectively compete in an economy today, you need to have the information systems that allow you to track your assets, your liabilities, your revenues, and your expenditures. Also important is the ability to precisely determine the impact of any changes in the pricing environment on those variables. Finally, the purchase of components, and the associated manufacturing plant and facility activities, along with the information systems that are used to implement those purchases and to monitor those activities, are absolutely necessary for any manufacturing firm to prosper in today's markets.