...INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION OPS600 - OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT 1 Custom Molds, Inc. Custom Molds, Inc., manufactures custom-designed molds for plastic parts and produces custom-made plastic connectors for the electronics industry. Located in Tucson, Arizona, Custom Molds was founded by the father and son team of Tom and Mason Miller in 1987. Tom Miller, a mechanical engineer, had 20 years of experience in the connector industry with AMP Inc., a large multinational producer of electronic connectors. Mason Miller graduated from the Arizona State University in 1986 with joint degrees in chemistry and chemical engineering. The company was originally formed to provide manufacturers of elec¬tronic connectors with a source of high-quality, custom-designed molds for producing plastic parts. The market consisted mainly of the product design and development divisions of those manufacturers. Custom Molds worked closely with each customer to design and develop molds to be used in the customer’s product development processes. Thus, virtually every mold had to meet exacting standards and was somewhat unique. Orders for multiple molds would arrive when customers moved from the design and pilot-run development to large-scale production of newly designed parts. As the years went by, Custom Molds's reputation grew as a designer and fabricator of precision molds. Building on this reputation, the Millers decided to expand into the limited manufacture of plastic...
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...Samir Chaudhry MGS 4010 04 09-30-2015 Custom Molds, Inc. Q1. What are the major issues facing Tom and Mason Miller? The electronics industry to which they supply is changing. This is due to the fact that the electronics manufacturers have shifted their strategies; they are now developing strategic partnerships with their suppliers. Custom Molds has to adapt to these changes. The demand for multiple molds is declining, contrary to the earlier days. Earlier they used to produce custom designed molds for producing plastic parts majorly and limited manufacture of plastic parts. Through the data provided in the case study we can conclude that during the last three years Custom Molds has been consistently getting more work in the mass production of plastic parts and the custom made molds have been decreasing. The order sizes for plastic parts were increasing. The reason for this being an issue for Custom Molds is that traditionally they have concentrated on the custom molds. But since they are getting a lot more work to produce plastic parts, they probably need to change the job shop layout to something more suitable for mass production. Experiencing delivery problems with plastic parts. The customers have been complaining about the late delivery of parts. Bottlenecks are springing during un-predictable production processes. If this goes on for too long, Custom Molds will lose credibility in front of their customers and some customers may decide to part ways. And the fact that...
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...1. Case Background Founded in 1975, Custom Molds Inc. is the producer and supplier of bespoke molds and plastic connectors to the electronics industry. Building on its reputation, the company expanded in-house operations in the 1980s to include the limited production of plastic parts geared towards R&D based initiatives. During the early 1990s, the company realized that the shifting structure and market environment of the electronics industry was starting to impinge on the company’s manufacturing processes. This created a host of issues. 2. The Issues and Possible Causes The main issue is that their clients have moved away from the old vertical manufacturing structure (i.e. acquiring the upstream/downstream components of the value chain). Instead, they have been building strategic and cost-effective partnerships directly with parts suppliers and this has completely altered the company’s sales mix (i.e. fewer molds are being ordered and the order sizes for parts have increased). This is inconvenient because Custom Molds’ core competency lies within mold fabrication (i.e. project process). Furthermore, Custom Molds only manufactures high quality parts in limited quantities within a limited scope (i.e. R&D based initiatives). Their production processes are not equipped to accommodate the large order sizes for parts, which is indicative of a batch process structure. Plus, the changing environment has highlighted process inefficiencies within the company which are leading...
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... 2. Changes in order needs in an unexpected way, as order for multiple molds are declining but order size for plastics is increasing. The impact on Custom Molds could be seen in sales figures over the past three years. The sales mix was changing. Although the number of orders per year for mold fabrication remained virtually constant, orders for multiple molds were declining. The reverse was true for plastic parts, for which the number of orders per year had declined but for which the order sizes were becoming larger. (Refer to the data provided) 3. Late delivery This is occurred to most of the plastics parts. Customers were complaining that parts orders were taking four to five weeks instead of the stated three weeks and that the delays were disrupting production schedules. Total time from order placement to receipt by customer is much longer than promised. This problem arises as the master scheduler was not able to determine the priority of a particular order and unexpected bottlenecking occurred during the production process. 4. Defective parts delivered to customer. Parts were returned to Custom Molds Inc after delivered to customer as a result from inefficient testing and inspection process. This will increase transportation and labor cost due to repair needed to fix the product and return back to the customer. Figure 1: Fabrication for mold Figure 2: manufacturing process for plastic parts ...
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...of IPL Inc. * Make a decision, in the next month and respond to Ford’s contract offer as well as deciding on several other projects IPL is considering. * What direction should the company move into? * Find an alternative that will agree with all his managers and avoid major disagreements among IPL’s executives and unnecessary threats to the company’s successful strategy. Analysis * Because of the fluctuating nature of demand, as well as price sensitivity traditionally associated with custom molding, IPL had historically limited its involvement in this activity. The appearance for high-volume markets for custom molding, particularly in the auto industry, had encouraged IPL set its involvement with custom molding to 25 percent. * It was common for producers of proprietary products to also devote a portion of their activities to custom molding in order to increase utilization of production capacity. * IPL also produced a plastic-made system for gathering maple sap. Quebec produced 70 percent of the world’s maple syrup, a crop worth over $50 million annually to sap producers. IPL dominated the North American market for these systems and no significant competition was perceived to exist. * About 50 percent of the employees live in Saint-Damien, with the remainder...
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...Operations Management: Case Custom Molds Joseph Lynn A4006828 MBA4 GGSB : LSBF 1. What are the major issues facing Tom and Mason Miller? 2. Identify the individual processes on a flow diagram. What are the competitive priorities for these processes and the changing nature of the industry? 3. What alternatives might the Millers pursue? What key factors should they consider as they evaluate these alternatives? Comment Form for Assessed Work Section One To be completed by the student Please tick as appropriate Name (s) Joseph Lynn.................................................................. MBA FT □ MIB ........................................................................................................ MBA PT X MSc ........................................................................................................ Specialization Management Consulting................................... .............................................................................................................. Intake n° Cohort 4............................................................................ Student ID Number (s) A4006828................................................ Grenoble Main Campus Subject Operations Management..................................................................................................................... Assignment X Oral Presentation □ Exam □ Undergraduate □ □ Diploma □ □ Certificate □ Off site (state which...
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...Current Business Practices Audit Kimberly Johnson, Richard Siemienczuk, Karen Graham, and Chad Smestad MGT/360 December 3, 2012 Vicki Bauer Current Business Practices Audit The learning team conducted an audit of Riordan Manufacturing’s current business practices at its processing plants located in California, Georgia, Michigan, and China. The business sustainability worksheets used to complete the evaluation aided the team in locating common areas of non-sustainable practices relating to land, water, and air pollution. The three non-sustainable practices evaluated further are solid waste, and hazardous waste causing land pollution, hazardous waste causing water pollution, and gaseous waste causing air pollution. These areas are the most harmful to the immediate population, which includes the plant workers and the communities. Solid Waste and Hazardous Waste Causing Land Pollution One of the non-sustainable practices is adding to land pollution. Currently, off-spec materials are sent to the landfill (Apollo, 2012). In addition to this, scrap plastic managed as waste goes to the landfill (Apollo). The biggest problem is that plastic is not biodegradable. When plastic and off-spec products are sent to the landfill, breakdown occurs but at minimal rates and these take longer to biodegrade over time. To remain compliant with government regulations, Riordan Manufacturing is required to identify hazardous waste generated each month if it exceeds 2,200 pounds (Apollo...
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...Running Room Case Study 10/21/14 T/TH 9:30 AM Present Strategy The Running Room company has been a successful and profitable business since its inception, catering to both avid runners and more casual joggers by selling high end running shoes. Its owner, Raina Cisco, used her background as a nationally ranked runner to establish credibility as a running shoe authority, especially for higher end products. In order to maintain this image of quality, Cisco chose to primarily sell Nike shoes. The Nike brand is associated with performance in the minds of her customers, and she was able to make a $5-$7 premium per pair of Nike shoes. Despite this success, after about 10 years of steady growth, profits began to decline due primarily to large department chains entering the running shoe market, the loss of loyal, aging customers, and difficulty in balancing the needs of these loyal customers with those of the younger generation of serious runners. The Running Room’s current strategy to achieve new growth involves diversifying the product offerings to appeal to not only serious runners, but also more casual consumers. Cisco stocked stores with more fashionable sportswear items for her more cursory customers while attempting to appeal to the running community by offering custom-fit, high performance shoes. This strategy captures a large target market; however, it is ultimately unsuccessful as a growth model because it does not fully satisfy either consumer group. The serious runners...
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...justice system and political freedom in Russian through their “punk prayer”. The major reason for staging the punk prayer was because of Vladimir Putin’s run for presidential election, after serving two consecutive terms as a prime minister. In order to make sense of this case study, I will say that the Pussy Riotss are a nonconformist minor group in the Russian society who desire change in their society. They refuse to follow the norms of keeping quiet by expressing their opinion about the Russian government and the system as a whole through the “punk prayer.Mill will support this argument with his theory of individuality. Mill will begin by saying that “it is important that human beings should be free to form opinions and to express their opinions without reserve” (Mill 53 line 1-3). Mills statement explicitly encourages individuals to think for themselves and to be able to express their thoughts. By doing this, Mill believes that the individual will have strong impulses, which will produce energy and such energy can be used as fuel for change. He will further support these arguments by saying ‘conforming to custom or norms merely as custom does not educate or develop any qualities which are distinctive endowment of a human being” (Mill 56 1-3). As humans we are not created to...
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...Executive Summary The Government of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) in 1997 introduced a housing project with the intention of creating an opportunity for affordable housing in Hong Kong (HK). Hong Kong was recognized as having one of the most important ports in the country with a growing middle class. The project would cover a 90 block radius by 1998. Unicon, given an opportunity to complete this project for the PRC, faced a big challenge. The capacity of the project was 90 blocs. The company has only been able to complete a 7 block per year radius. The total capacity of the industry itself was 20 blocks per year. Demand for 2 of its 4 products - precast concrete facades & slabs, which are in current production, is in high demand for the Hong Kong market. These 2 products already represent close to 54% of the sales of Unicon. The fact that the total capacity of the industry is 20 blocks per year clearly indicates that competition will be entering the Hong Kong market. Unicon, in fact, already expects a minimum of 5 new competitors to enter the HK market for construction suppliers. There are currently already 4 competitors in the HK market. Unicon needs to move fast to be able to stay ahead of the competition entering the market. The opportunity for expansion is great. Based on our evaluation, we recommend that Mr. Li: • Work on the blanket approval with the HKHA to short cut the approval process; • Re-organize the company structure by moving from “make...
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...shown to be recorded through in the Bible. The Bible is the holy testament of the trials and tribulations of Jesus, who was established to be the identified ideal for all mankind. The presentation of Christianity is that all of the population were to be treated as equals and in addition were to treat those surrounding them in a respectful and conscientious manner to honor the Bible. The regions of which Christianity is primarily the focused would include both South and North America in addition to Europe and a scattering of countries within the expansion of Africa. Christianity is a developing religion in some regions and the concepts and traditions of also expanding so that new communities and personnel were exposed to the practices and customs of the religion. Religion 3 Within Christianity there are various sacred practices that are deemed as a...
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...Course Name : Operations Management Course Code : GSM 5113 Credit : 3 (3+0) Semester/Trimester : Second Trimester 2012/2013 Pre-Requisite : None Course Objectives : The course has several objectives: • Introducing the functional area of operations and demonstrating how operations interface with an organization’s other functional areas. • Highlighting the various issues and problems that traditionally arise in the management of operations within both manufacturing and service organizations. • Building a familiarity with the terminology, modeling, and methodology often employed in the operations function. • Presenting recent technological advances that directly affect operations management. Synopsis : Operations management goes by many names: Production, Production Management, or simply Operations. For our purposes we will define it as the production and delivery of goods and services. It encompasses designing the product and its accompanying production process, acquiring and organizing the necessary resources, and planning and executing production. With such a broad scope, the operations function plays an integral role in the ability of an organization to achieve its goals. A well-trained manager must be familiar and conversant with the many issues and concepts that arise within this functional area. In this course we will study the management...
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...Addiction The conduct of individuals is often directly impacted by the social aspects surrounding his or her life; both personally and professionally. Influences of personal relationships, specifically family, substantially dictate the manner in which we eat, drink, speak, dress, etc. This could be due to foundational practices involving cultural, traditional and other adopted customs. These routines tend to be directly and/or indirectly persuasive to an individual. Van Wormer and Davis (2013) explain that an addiction is a “family illness” which is indicative of a malfunction or an anomaly in the family system and “affects the family dynamics” (Van Wormer & Davis, 2013, p. 505). Therefore, in order for an individual to find relief and recover from an addiction, changes...
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...Sophia Zheng Baldasaro Advance Senior Seminar December 12th, 2013 The patriarchy in society is very much evident in England during this time period. All those who held positions of power and prestige or were of great significance were typically men. Because of the expectations in society, women, in particular, seem to be overly concerned with this idea of fitting into their perspective molds and conforming to the stereotypical gender roles. In Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, Woolf seems to places emphasis on the lives of a variety woman, portraying the way they fare in their everyday lives. But regardless of social class and backgrounds, through an assortment of different women, Woolf seems to comment on how insignificant or trivial the lives of typical women in this time period. Clarissa is the epitome of a repressed woman who conforms to traditional customs and places her main concerns on rather petty seeming things like physical appearance and parties. Right from the start, Clarissa is seen to place an extreme importance on materialistic. She touches on how she feels like a schoolgirl standing next to the “almost too well dressed always” Hugh (Woolf, 6). Though, ironically, Clarissa actually cares much less for clothing in a fashion sense and is more concerned with appearing high in class, fitting in and appealing to others. She is, to some degree juxtaposed, with Rezia who seems to be genuinely interested in clothing due to the influences of her youth but is portrayed as...
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