Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / The Agriculture Equipment Manufacturing industry is a $42 billion dollar industry in the United States. The Agricultural Equipment industry is very competitive across all market segments, especially in the less than 100 horsepower category (<100hp). This tractor category consists of 4 sub categories: <20hp, 20-40hp, 40-60hp, and 60-100hp. The <100hp tractor segment accounted for 170,547 of the 207,833 tractors that were sold during the 2014 year. Compared to the over 100 horsepower category (100+hp) that has fewer competitors, the <100hp segment is more competitive with more manufacturers competing for market share. Company XYZ is a full line manufacturer of agricultural equipment, harvesters, and construction equipment. Company XYZ lost some ground in market share due to the increased competition from new entrants into the market place as well as established manufacturers increasing their presence. To be more competitive, Company XYZ is looking at industry best practices to see how they can increase market share. One of these practices is a terms bank. A terms bank allows a dealer to stockpile unused months of terms to be used at a later date on tractors with expired terms. This minimizes financial risk for dealers to stock inventory. The cost to stock inventory is a large expense that dealers must carefully manage. One of the biggest costs of stocking inventory is the interest paid for tractors that have exhausted their interest free terms. A terms bank may lower the amount of interest that a dealer pays. It also lowers the cost to stock inventory and allows the dealership to manage and reduce these costs and risks. Evaluating the factors associated with stocking inventory, especially interest rate, will help manage inventory costs and stocking levels. This thesis uses regression analyses to analyze the costs of stocking units and the effect it has on dealership revenues. A regression analysis will test the hypothesis that lowering the interest portion of the cost of stocking inventory will increase sales. Data were gathered for dealership groups in the Western United States on a monthly basis for the years 2008 – 2014. The results supported the hypothesis that lowering the interest rate at dealerships was positively correlated with revenues. The reduced interest cost lowers the carrying cost of inventory and point to a terms bank being an effective tool for increasing Company XYZ’s market share.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Daniel M. O'Brien / The Chicago wheat futures contract has received attention in recent years regarding non-convergence with SRW wheat cash prices. In 2009 the CME Group announced their decision to implement a market based mechanism to set daily storage rates at registered delivery locations for the Chicago wheat contract. The new market based mechanism is a variable storage rate (VSR) that monitors Chicago wheat futures spreads relative to financial full carry. The running average of the futures spread at the end of the contract observation period determines future changes to existing storage rates. The objective of this study is to determine whether or not the adoption of VSR mechanisms has had an impact on SRW wheat basis convergence in the Toledo, OH switching district. The Chicago wheat contract months that were studied using OLS regression models include July 2010, September 2010, December 2010, and March 2011. A final OLS regression model examining the cumulative data collected from these four contract months concludes the research. The explanatory variables used to study SRW wheat basis convergence in Toledo includes days to delivery, all wheat ending stocks as a percentage of use for the United States, and VSR. In two of the regression models for the contract months studied VSR found to have a statistically significant impact, i.e., the December 2010 and March 2011 models. In the cumulative regression model covering all four wheat contract months VSR was also found to have a statistically significant impact on SRW wheat basis convergence. The regression models in this analysis appear to contain some degree of multicollinearity, a statistical condition in which the explanatory variables tend to move collinearly or “together” with each other. Multicollinearity oftentimes can result in deceptively high and inconsistent statistical results in econometric models.

Purpose – To analyze the impact on total cost by inventory control methods under the influence of seasonal demand. The purpose will be answered with following research questions: What inventory control methods can be used when there is seasonal demand? What is the impact of inventory control methods on total cost under the influence of seasonal demand? Method – The study was conducted as a case study and the empirical data was collected through interviews and document study. Both of these contributed to the basis for the analysis and for the calculations in the test of the study. Literature study was conducted and included theories for inventory control methods to answer the first research question, as well as formulas for the methods used to answer the second research question. Findings – It appears from the study, the inventory control methods that can be used when there is seasonal demand and during current planning environment is periodic ordering system and cycle service method. These have been tested further in the study. Seasonal index was considered an important method since it dimensions demand which to a high degree regulate the inventory levels and thereby the result of the inventory control methods. Further the study compares none theoretical inventory control methods and theoretical inventory control methods impact on total cost. It is shown that carrying costs, as a part of total cost, can be reduced by 25% during the peak season and 62% during off-season. This without changing the deliverability. Alternatively, the deliverability can be increased by 10% by using inventory control methods without increasing the total cost of the inventory. Implications – The theoretical contribution of the study is that it has increased the knowledge concerning inventory control methods when there is seasonal demand, and the possible results they might bring. The empirical contribution of the study is that companies can use the study as an indication of the economic benefits and motivation for implementing theoretical inventory control methods. Limitations – The tested inventory control methods did not alter the ordering cost, which to a high degree can have an impact on the total cost. The study also shows a possible impact on the inventory control during the current planning environment. If the planning environment changes, the result of the study can be different.

Utvecklingen av teknologin i dagens industrier förändras snabbt och för att bibehålla verksamhetens konkurrenskraft är det viktigt att förstå kundernas behov. Prognostisering är förväntat framtida behov baserad på historisk data. En prognos kan hjälpa ett företag med att planera och budgetera för framtida produktions- och distributions behov, samt fatta beslut om lagerhållning och inköp av råvaror. Syftet med studien är att undersöka framtida materialbehov med hjälp av prognostisering samt öka förståelsen samtidigt. Målet med studien är att få fram en metod för att utföra prognoser i ett affärssystem. De frågor studien kommer att besvara är “Hur kan användning av prognoser minska ledtider och bundet kapital?” &amp; “Hur kan affärssystemet SAP användas för prognoser av en specifik produktgrupp?”Genom en förstudie om ämnet och därefter en fallstudie hos Wexiödisk kommer informationen att tas. Studien består av primära källor i form av intervjuer och sekundära källor i form av dokumentinsamling. Resultaten studien kom fram till var bland annat transaktionskoder och dess användningsområde, förklaring och utvärdering av parametrarna tillhörande materialplanering 1-4 och prognos. Dessutom hur en grundläggande prognos kan utföras med historiska värden. Resultatet redovisar även skillnaden i bundet kapital med hjälp av prognostisering.Den generella slutsatsen från studien är att med en parameterlösning och arbetssätt för att utföra prognosen besvaras frågan “Hur kan affärssystemet SAP användas för prognoser av en specifik produktgrupp?”. Vidare förslag om forskning och optimering kring parametrarna ges även för att få en mer exakt slutgiltig prognos. / The development of technology in today's industries is changing rapidly and in order to maintain the competitiveness of the business it is important to understand the needs of the customers. Forecasting is expected future demand based on historical data. A forecast can help a company plan and budget for future production and distribution needs, as well as make decisions about stocking and purchasing raw materials.The purpose of the study is to investigate future material needs using forecasting and to gaina greater understanding at the same time. The goal of the study is to come up with a method for performing forecasts in a business system. The questions the study will answer are "How can the use of forecasts reduce lead times and tied up capital?" &amp; "How can the business system SAP be used for forecasts of a specific product group?"Through a preliminary study on the subject and then a case study at Wexiödisk, which the information will be taken from. The study consists of primary sources in the form of interviews and secondary sources in the form of document collection.The results of the study showed among other things, transaction codes and their area of use, explanation and evaluation of the parameters associated with MRP 1-4 and forecasting. Also, how a basic forecast can be performed using historical values. The result also reports the difference in tied up capital with the help of forecasting.The general conclusion of the study is that with a parameter solution and working method to perform the forecast, the question "How can the business system SAP be used for forecasts of a specific product group?" is answered. Further suggestions about research and optimization around the parameters are also given to get a more accurate final forecast.