READ THE CASE STUDY BELOW AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS. Warm and Cosy is a medium-sized, Cape Town based, family business that produces various winter jackets and tracksuits. To improve the efficiency of their operation, they purchase cotton, nylon, polyester, leather, pleather, rubber and elastic bands, wool, silk, zippers and buttons from various suppliers. Their waterproof tracksuits are particularly popular during the winter rainy season. This demand is seasonal, which means that their factory is much busier in winter. In an attempt to improve customer relations and storage utilisation, the general manager, Dave Pea, has considered purchasing an MRP-system program. To accommodate the increased demand during winter, the business forecasts the demand and tries to manufacture as many jackets as possible during low demand periods, such as summer. The South African textile manufacturing industry has become increasingly competitive since Warm and Cosy was first founded in 1990. Not only does the business have to compete with local clothing producers, it also has to compete with cheaper articles of clothing imported form Chinese manufacturers. To differentiate Warm and Cosy's brand, quality has always been the foundation of their strategic decision making. Despite the success that Mr. Pea has enjoyed in recent years, there are still some operational issues that perturb him. For instance, business hours are supposed to start at 08h00, but on most days the local staff bus driver arrives at 08h15 which eats away at production time and causes some of the rest of the personnel to aimlessly wait around. The previous general manager had a free modification and customisation policy applicable to certain customers. Mr. Pea believes that this practice does not add value to the vast majority of customers, but he is forced to keep it since the previous general manager was his father. The layout of the factory causes unnecessary handling of Work-in-process (WIP)-goods during peak production cycles. During these high production times, the business also receives a disproportionate amount of customer complaints and returns due to orders not being compliant with the specifications given on the invoice. Some employees have started complaining about the repetitive nature of their work. Additionally, Mr. Pea has noticed that these employees often alleviate their boredom by unduly moving manufacturing goods and materials between work centres. Mr Pea's daughter, Danica Pea, who is the procurement manager, has also announced that she would like to peruse a career more aligned with her BA in Historical Arts degree. Question 1 [19] Table 1 Month Rainfall in mm (x) Sales in units (y) September 2020 420 4502 October 2020 350 3300 November 2020 285 2500 December 2020 90 1020 January 2021 70 590 February 2021 120 990 March 2021 210 4255 April 2021 560 9080 May 2021 820 13040 June 2021 ??? ???? July 2021 ??? ???? August 2021 ??? ???? 1.1 Use the weighted moving average for four periods with 0.4; 0.3; 0.2 & 0.1 as the weights to determine the rain forecast June 2021; July 2021 & August 2021. Round off to one decimal point. (7) 1.2 The colder, rainy winter months of the Western Cape are associated with higher sales of the waterproof tracksuits. Use the simple linear regression method to determine the regression formula (y = a + bx/y = ??? + [???]x). Only use the 9 known values in column X & the 9 known values in column Y of Table 1 above. (7) 1.3 Calculate the sales for months (periods) of June 2021, July 2021 and August 2021 using the rainfall forecasts you determined in Question 1.1 above. (5) Question 2 [2] As mentioned earlier Warm and Cosy's demand is seasonal, which means their factory is much busier in winter and that they end up holding a lot of inventory during seasons of low demand. Reducing stock level is a common objective of modern businesses. Discuss the most practical method(s) that Warm and Cosy could utilise to reduce their stock if needed. (2)