Service target to stocking rule: MT296's Unit 4 safety stock calculation sets 945 cases of protection for one frozen pierogi flavor and prices three alternatives. Searches like "mt 296 unit 4 assignment example", "mt296 unit 4 sample" and "mt296 unit 4 example" land here.
What a finished MT296 Unit 4 safety stock calculation looks like
A short inputs list, one worked calculation and a comparison table fill three to four pages. Weekly demand for the potato-cheddar twelve-count averages 1,780 cases with a standard deviation of 290. The flavor runs every second week and the schedule freezes a week ahead, so protection must cover three weeks, a standard deviation of about 502 cases. At 97 percent the z-value is 1.881, giving safety stock of 945 cases and an order-up-to level of 6,285. The table sets 90, 95, 97 and 99 percent side by side, with safety stock from 644 to 1,169 cases and annual holding cost in freezer space and capital from $3,178 to $5,767. A note shows the expected fill rate at 97 percent near 99.8 percent.
How a MT296 Unit 4 example is structured
The paper explains first why a periodic review model fits: the potato-cheddar flavor is made on a fixed two-week cycle, so the question is how high to fill each time rather than when to reorder. The protection interval follows, review period plus schedule freeze, with a sentence on why demand variability must be covered across all three weeks. The calculation shows each step with units: weekly standard deviation, scaled by the square root of three, multiplied by the z-value, then added to expected demand over the interval. The service comparison prices each level in freezer pallets and capital. A short section separates cycle service level from fill rate, because the two are often confused and differ sharply here. The rule for the scheduler closes the paper, together with the months when it must be recalculated.
Why periodic review
Production runs on a fixed cycle, so the decision each time is how much to make. That points to an order-up-to level rather than a reorder point.
Three weeks of exposure
Two weeks between runs plus a week of frozen schedule give a protection interval of three weeks, and variability scales with its square root, from 290 to about 502 cases.
From 97 percent to 945 cases
The z-value of 1.881 times 502 cases gives the safety stock. Added to three weeks of average demand, 5,340 cases, it produces the 6,285 target.
Four levels, four prices
Moving from 95 to 97 percent adds 119 cases and about $585 a year; from 97 to 99 adds 224 cases and about $1,105. The table lets a manager watch the curve steepen.
Cycle service is not fill rate
At 97 percent, three cycles in a hundred run short, but the expected shortfall is under six cases per cycle, a fill rate near 99.8 percent. Retailer scorecards usually track the second figure.
Where marks go in MT296 Unit 4
Getting the protection interval wrong is the error instructors meet most often on this calculation: using the review period alone, or the lead time alone, understates safety stock by a wide margin. A service level chosen without any cost comparison reads as arbitrary, however sensible the figure turns out to be. Confusing cycle service level with fill rate leads to overstocking, since a 97 percent fill-rate target needs far less protection than a 97 percent cycle target. Results left in the abstract, 945 cases with no statement of what a scheduler does with the number, stop short of the rule the unit asks for. Standard deviations taken from monthly data and used as weekly figures cost accuracy credit. A note on when the rule must be recalculated, such as holiday peaks, shows judgment.
Get a MT296 Unit 4 example written to your instructions
Share the Unit 4 demand figures and replenishment details, the prompt, and the rubric it is graded on. The sample carries the calculation through to a rule someone could follow and prices alternative service levels in dollars. A first custom sample is provided free, within 24-48h, with every step shown in units.
MT296 Unit 4 questions, answered
Which z-value goes with which service level?
A standard normal table gives it: about 1.28 for 90 percent, 1.645 for 95, 1.88 for 97 and 2.33 for 99. Spreadsheets return the same values through the normal inverse function. Use the level your case specifies, and if none is given, choose one and show what the next level up would cost, so the choice is visibly reasoned.
What separates cycle service level from fill rate?
Cycle service level is the share of replenishment cycles with no stockout at all. Fill rate is the share of demand met from stock. A cycle that runs short by five cases counts as a failure for the first and barely registers in the second, so the same safety stock yields very different percentages. State which one your target means.
What if demand is seasonal?
Calculate safety stock for each season separately, using that season's average and variability, rather than one figure for the whole year. A holiday peak with higher variability needs more protection than the summer base. Many cases give a single season to keep the arithmetic simple; if yours does, note that the rule applies only to that period.