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Week 2 db

Review the Assignments for this course, accessed by clicking on the Assignment tab at the top of your screen, and then selecting each “Unit# – Assignment,” and

reviewing the description, type, and deliverables. Explain your proposed approach for conducting research that is necessary to develop quality deliverables, and

explain how the information gleaned will support your career development in management.
Unit -1
A specialty memory chip manufacturer is located in Southern California with manufacturing plants located in the United States, Europe, Singapore, and Japan.

Additionally, it has branch sales offices located in major metropolitan areas across the globe. The market for its six key products included original equipment

manufacturers of personal computers, cellular telephone manufacturers, electronics distributors, and government organizations. The market environment for its products

is extremely volatile with fluctuating demand and rapidly changing prices. The company uses short-term contracts (less than 1 month) and spot pricing for irregular

customers. Internally, the operation is capital-intensive with depreciation running approximately $1.2 million per day (depreciation has an impact on revenue streams).

The 6 key products had further specialized components, making the possible line mix total 24 distinct products. Further, the manufacturing process required high

manufacturing lead times and various product yields. In the high technology memory arena, product life cycles were dramatically shortened because of rapid

obsolescence. To coordinate the manufacturing activity, the company has an established process and system that helped optimize resource utilization, improve shop floor

efficiencies, and manage customer demand.
The company is experiencing 10–15% growth in revenues and volume, primarily tied to increased worldwide demand, product type, and market variables. Most significantly,

the company received a major preorder for a new cellular phone memory chip that is scheduled to come out in 3 months. This preorder is scaled for up to 10 million

units, and management is concerned that the existing process and system may not be suitably optimized for this order. Additionally, the forecast in sales figures for

all six key product lines is higher than it has been in the past. With the increase in volume, management is concerned about the quality management process as well—can

the existing processes maintain the highest degree of quality needed?
As a new member of the production planning management staff, you will be expected to help develop strategies to support the expanded growth plans. Your team faces

several fundamental issues. First, are the individual plant layouts conducive to the expanded growth expected by the company? Second, are individual plant layouts

optimized for the most efficient performance and lowest cost? Third, is the existing supply chain interaction among all the various components optimized in the same

manner individual layouts are expected to be optimized? Finally, your group must consider capacity planning and workflow to ensure the company can meet its contractual

obligations with the maximum revenue and profitability. It currently uses information systems developed by the company to conduct production planning. You believe that

a fully integrated enterprise resource planning tool or specific production planning software would better suit the company in light of its upcoming increase in

production.
Using course materials and other resources, research and identify potential software applications with consideration for the following:
1) Should the company use an ERP package or specific manufacturing production planning utilities?
2) What are the advantages and disadvantages of each course of action?
3) Identify the candidate pool of software you considered for selection, select a single product, and justify your reasoning. Some of those for consideration may

include the following: SAP, i2, Seibel, and SAS for the larger ERP/CRM/SCM vendors. Alternatively, Production Scheduling, RSS Solutions, Preactor International, or

others.
Unit – 2
As the company prepares to meet demand and capacity requirements for its planned future growth, you have been asked to review the current forecasting strategy and help

implement a new strategic plan for forecasting demand. The new forecasting plan ties directly to the overall strategic planning methodology established by the company.

The company historically has used a time series method. The forecasting methods under consideration are the following:
•   Qualitative: human judgment, usually best used when little data is available
•   Simulation: the use of computer models or judgment to imitate customer behavior
•   Causal: used when there is a direct tie between demand and an environmental factor, such as cold weather
•   Time series: the use of historical data to predict future needs
Using course materials and other research, complete the following:
•   Identify which forecasting technique or multiple techniques should be used in the future for the company’s strategy. Are there other techniques available that

are not listed above?
•   Explain the technique you identify, and give an example of how it is used in the manufacturing, retail, and health care industries.
•   Detail if 1 of the 4 techniques listed above should NOT be used and why.
•   Evaluate the significance of forecasting error for the technique or techniques you have selected. What is the impact of error on your chosen technique?
Unit – 3
As the company examines various methods to assess its performance and design processes, it is looking for an analysis of the existing workflow production process and

the factors that most directly impact such measurements. As a review, the most common metrics for production processes are as follows:
•   Quality: the number of defects associated with a given product
•   Cost: material and labor cost
•   Timeliness: how quickly products are manufactured and delivered
•   Flexibility: the degree to which the production process can be adapted to produce other products or specific products more quickly
•   Productivity: a ratio of outputs divided by inputs
•   Efficiency: a ratio of actual outputs divided by standard (or expected) outputs, multiplied by 100% to give a total efficiency percentage
•   Cycle time: the total time it takes to complete a production process
•   Theory of Constraints and Queuing Theory
Using course materials and other research, complete the following:
•   Explain how each measure can be applied to the company’s production planning process. Can the company use each one? How?
•   Rank the criteria listed above in order of importance to the company’s production planning strategy detailing your rationale for such a ranking.
•   Identify other measures that might apply to the company and explain them.

Unit -4
The memory chip manufacturer, having identified the appropriate location for its major production facility, now wants your team to determine the optimal internal

layout for the facility based on the following criteria:
• The facility will manufacture several lines of memory chips, some with compatible components and some that do not have compatible components.
• The facility will also house an administrative support workgroup that will receive and process orders, bill customers, and provide payroll/HR support for the

local workforce.
• The facility will also be responsible for shipping to national, international, and local customer locations.
Using course materials and other research, complete the following:

Individual: There are 4 types of potential layouts: product-based, functional, cellular and fixed-position layouts. Divide the work up with equality among individual

team members so that each of the listed layouts is defined from an academic context and it is specified how it might apply to the company’s facility.
Please add your file.
Group: As a team, discuss your justification and choice for the most appropriate method for the company, and come to a consensus.

Finally, as a team, determine the most appropriate optimization models of the chosen layout(s). In other words, identify the best methods that the company can use to

optimize workflow amongst those methods (individual layout types). Provide a full rationale.

Unit – 5
After all your production planning analysis, you have been asked to prepare a Quality Management Planning Strategy for management and employees.
Using course materials and other resources, develop a strategy document with the following action items:
• Identify the overall Quality Management Process (TQM, ISO 9000, Six Sigma) the company will use, and explain the rationale for such change. Be aware of

industry requirements (i.e. service operations are different from manufacturing, and each process may offer specific advantages for a specific industry). Describe how

you will implement the process in the company (make any necessary reasonable assumptions you need with the scenario, such as company organization or structure).
• Once you identify and explain the process, outline the specific tools and techniques the company will use for quality management. Consider the usefulness of

all the charting and statistical quality metric techniques and identify which ones it should use.
• Develop a communications memorandum to the factory workers announcing these changes and explaining the value of them. Remember, quality management principles

all focus on employee involvement and continuous improvement.

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