Dependent demand is the requirement for stock item which is directly related to and therefore de-pendent upon the rate of production (examples are: raw materials, components, energy) Independent demand is the requirement for stock item which is not directly related to, and is therefore independent of rate of production. Although independent demand is called thus, it can still be influenced by economic factors external to the demand-supply model such as general consumer sentiment and consumers' available disposal income. However, businesses that need to predict the number of products with independent demand needed to sate their customers have it easier than businesses that must calculate the demand for products with dependent demand because there are fewer factors to consider.
In this scenario, the new drug is finished good which is dependent on the demand of the market, and the firm needs to forecast before initiating the production process. The item is independent from rate of production, therefore, it must be independent demand item.

Dependent demand is the requirement for stock item which is directly related to and therefore de-pendent upon the rate of production (examples are: raw materials, components, energy).
Independent demand is the requirement for stock item which is not directly related to, and is therefore independent of rate of production.
'Number of independent demand items may be derived from the forecast': Although independent demand is called thus, it can still be influenced by economic factors external to the demand-supply model such as general consumer sentiment and consumers' available disposal income. However, businesses that need to predict the number of products with independent demand needed to sate their customers have it easier than businesses that must calculate the demand for products with dependent demand because there are fewer factors to consider.
'Dependent demand items are not directly correlated with production rate': As mentioned above, dependent demand items are directly correlated with production rate.
'All indirect supplies are independent demand items': Though most indirect supplier are inde-pendent demand, some are determined by the production rate, i.e. energy consumption of a major machinery.
'Car engine is an example of independent demand items in a car assembly plant': Car engine is a component in car which is the finished good of a car assembly plant, it is a dependent demand item.
LO 2, AC 2.1

According to L4M7 study guide, acquisition costs in procurement are the costs associated with the activities involved in a purchase. A buying organisation incurs acquisition costs in low-value purchases as well as high- value purchases. The following purchases tend to have lower acquisition costs:
- Straight re-buy from a current supplier
- Purchase of standard catalogued products
Otherwise, any purchases of high value, high-risk items generally require greater attention of buying organisation and thus, they are likely to have higher acquisition costs. Spot purchase of a technically complexed machinery, Purchase of ERP system and Procurement of construction projects are examples of high-value, high-risk purchases.

Safety stock is also known as buffer stock. As this name suggests, this type of stock provides some kind of
'buffer', which means safety stock will help the business to reduce the shocks induced by volatile demand or disruption on the supply chain. In other words, safety stock will reduces the probability of stockouts. The following graph would explain the reason why an organisation should have safety stock:
Chart, histogram Description automatically generated

Figure 1: Safety stock graph
As it is only the buffer against uncertainty, safety stock level should be equal to the deviation of demand or replenishment time. Safety stock should be able to accommodate variance of demand and variance of lead time.