CASE TOOL FOR ASSESSMENT OF PROGRAM OUTCOMES 2 and 3

CASE TOOL FOR ASSESSMENT OF PROGRAM OUTCOMES 2 and 3 The Case of the Rewired Supply Chain" rel="nofollow">in ORUN is a 4th generation family owned company with a corporate headquarters and 4 plants located in" rel="nofollow">in three states, each of which manufactures nearly identical product lin" rel="nofollow">ines. They are considered a leader in" rel="nofollow">in the development, design, manufacture, marketin" rel="nofollow">ing, and distribution of metal cablin" rel="nofollow">ing and related products used in" rel="nofollow">in the telecommunications and automobile in" rel="nofollow">industry. The company owners, in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing Mr. Charles O’Run, the CEO, realized that some core issues had to be addressed and solved if the busin" rel="nofollow">iness stood to gain" rel="nofollow">in a competitive advantage in" rel="nofollow">in the market which, in" rel="nofollow">in their case, in" rel="nofollow">included many foreign and multi-national competitors, but also potential customers. They need to solve both strategic and operational issues many of which focus around the need for better, more rapid and dependable in" rel="nofollow">information concernin" rel="nofollow">ing their materials management and production plannin" rel="nofollow">ing. Summary of the manufacturin" rel="nofollow">ing process: Any wire diameters required by the customer can be drawn from appropriately sized wire rod blanks, the in" rel="nofollow">initial basic material purchased from specialty metal suppliers. The process can be set up to accommodate a variety of sizes of the fin" rel="nofollow">inished product, which is comprised of the metal “conductor” and the in" rel="nofollow">insulation material. The conductor is made by twistin" rel="nofollow">ing a bundle of wires from the drawin" rel="nofollow">ing machin" rel="nofollow">ine in" rel="nofollow">in the bunchin" rel="nofollow">ing section. This hardened conductor is made by heat treatment, and then the outer jacket for the heat-treated conductor is made to in" rel="nofollow">insulate it. After in" rel="nofollow">insulation is placed over the wire, custom markin" rel="nofollow">ing of company logo (if designated in" rel="nofollow">in the order), size or any specifications desired by the client are prin" rel="nofollow">inted on the surface of the jacketed conductor in" rel="nofollow">in the markin" rel="nofollow">ing section. A quality in" rel="nofollow">inspection is performed to verify the outer diameter, conductivity, and spark test. After in" rel="nofollow">inspection, the fin" rel="nofollow">inal product is rolled as a spool or coil in" rel="nofollow">in the win" rel="nofollow">ind-up section and a fin" rel="nofollow">inal in" rel="nofollow">inspection of the packaged product is conducted. Over the course of time, the ORUN remote operations have become very in" rel="nofollow">independent in" rel="nofollow">in their local procedures. There is a significant communication gap between the corporate headquarters and the 4 plants. In fact, so much in" rel="nofollow">information is movin" rel="nofollow">ing between plants by facsimile and email that daily operations are quite dependent on the speed and availability of these processes. The plant's operatin" rel="nofollow">ing results are not gettin" rel="nofollow">ing to local and headquarters management on time. The headquarters staff reportin" rel="nofollow">ing is confusin" rel="nofollow">ing, and the metrics used by operatin" rel="nofollow">ing units are developed at each remote site and not distributed throughout the company. Different procedures exist for the manufacturin" rel="nofollow">ing, supply chain" rel="nofollow">in management, marketin" rel="nofollow">ing, and fin" rel="nofollow">inancial reportin" rel="nofollow">ing throughout the various plants. There is no agreement within" rel="nofollow">in the company whether certain" rel="nofollow">in products or long-term contracts are profitable, and the value contribution of in" rel="nofollow">individual vendors to their overall process is unknown for certain" rel="nofollow">in. Additionally, there are no procedures in" rel="nofollow">in place to ensure unified supplier management throughout the company, leavin" rel="nofollow">ing this in" rel="nofollow">instead to the in" rel="nofollow">individual plant purchasin" rel="nofollow">ing managers. The primary goal that the owners identified is to control the rapidly fluctuatin" rel="nofollow">ing material purchase costs and to reduce a significant in" rel="nofollow">increase in" rel="nofollow">in raw material and fin" rel="nofollow">inished goods in" rel="nofollow">inventories. A corollary goal is the need to ensure that the entire enterprise is organized in" rel="nofollow">in a manner befittin" rel="nofollow">ing a world class manufacturin" rel="nofollow">ing operation. In the past, when attempts to improve far less complex organizational problems were made, there was considerable resistance to change, both by the workers and by mid-level management at the various plants. Mr. O’Run has hired you, a proven executive, as his new Chief Operatin" rel="nofollow">ing Officer, specifically charged to solve these problems and achieve the goals as set forth below. As your first assignment, Mr. O’Run has requested that you meet with ORUN’s Board of Directors and briefly summarize the problem as you see it and recommend a broad course of action to begin" rel="nofollow">in plannin" rel="nofollow">ing how to address the followin" rel="nofollow">ing goals: 1. Allow ORUN to min" rel="nofollow">inimize costly in" rel="nofollow">inventory 2. Improve the overall supply chain" rel="nofollow">in management within" rel="nofollow">in the company 3. Ensure demand requirements are met, avoidin" rel="nofollow">ing stock outs and reducin" rel="nofollow">ing overall costs 4. Standardize busin" rel="nofollow">iness practices among plants with a given supplier 5. Increase supplier efficiency with real time in" rel="nofollow">information on firm/planned orders and forecasts. CASE QUESTIONS: For this in" rel="nofollow">initial meetin" rel="nofollow">ing with the Directors, you are to prepare a short summary of your recommendations, in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing the followin" rel="nofollow">ing: 1. A synopsis of the in" rel="nofollow">inventory and supply chain" rel="nofollow">in management problem(s) as you perceive them to be. 2. Usin" rel="nofollow">ing the facts of the case, as well as theories and best practices that you have learned in" rel="nofollow">in the PROC 5820, Operations Management course, prepare a short description as to what you in" rel="nofollow">intend to do to address each of the 5 goals above. 3. Explain" rel="nofollow">in how you would identify and use measures of effectiveness (identify appropriate metrics) to assess progress in" rel="nofollow">in resolvin" rel="nofollow">ing these issues.