Ideal Standard, part of American Standard Inc., are manufacturers of bathroom and sanitary wear. Like many manufacturers of consumer products, they must plan and control their operations so as to best utilize their production resources, as well as give a good standard of customer service. At one time the only way of doing this was thought to be by the use of large finished goods inventories. But since the advent of 'just-in-time' type principles, manufacturers such as Ideal Standard have managed to raise productivity, improve quality and dramatically reduce inventory. The programme which was put in place throughout American Standard Inc. was called 'Demand Flow Manufacturing'. All areas of inventory holding were scrutinized and driven down by reducing batch sizes and making to demand rather than making to stock. In some parts of the company, stock turns increased threefold and the money tied up in inventories reduced by over 75 per cent; productivity and quality have also improved significantly.

1. What do you think are the particular difficulties in inventory management at Ideal Standard?
2. What are the major changes in attitude necessary in moving from a make-to-stock to a make-to-order philosophy of planning and control?