Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) Practice Exam

What information is included in the concept of 'available to promise'?

1. Data on historic sales trends

2. Information on uncommitted goods and work in process inventory

3. Projected future sales volumes

4. Current inventory levels only

The correct answer is: Information on uncommitted goods and work in process inventory

The concept of 'available to promise' (ATP) refers specifically to the inventory that is not yet allocated to customer orders and therefore is available to fulfill new orders. This includes information about uncommitted goods and work in process inventory, which indicates what resources are physically available and what can be promised to customers without impacting existing commitments. ATP plays a critical role in sales and operations planning by helping organizations manage customer expectations regarding order fulfillment. While historic sales trends, projected future sales volumes, and current inventory levels are important for overall supply chain planning, they do not directly provide the information needed to determine what inventory can be promised to customers at any given moment. The focus of the ATP calculation is on real-time inventory that is both available and not currently spoken for by existing orders. Thus, the correct answer encapsulates the essential concept of available to promise in terms of resource availability within the supply chain context.