Wheeled Coach, the world’s largest manufacturer of ambulances, builds thousands of different and constantly changing configurations of its products. The custom nature of its business means lots of options and special designs-and a potential scheduling and inventory nigh-mare. Wheeled Coach addresses such problems, and succeeded in solving a lot of them, with a MRP system (described in the Global Company Profile that opens this chapter). As with most MRP installations, however, solving one set of problems uncovers a new set.

Discussion Questions
1. Why is accurate inventory such an important issue at Wheeled Coach?
2. Why does Wheeled Coach have excess inventory, and what kind of a plan would you suggest for dealing with it?
3. Be specific in your suggestions for reducing inventory and how to implement them.