...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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.................. 5 Competitive Priorities Challenges ..................................................................................................... 7 Alternatives for Custom Mold......................................................................................................... 10 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 12 References ...................................................................................................................................... 13 1 1.0 Introduction Custom Molds, Inc., owned by father and Son Tom and mason Miller in 1975, was originally formed to manufacture custom designed molds for plastic parts as well as produced custom made plastic connectors for the electronics industry. As the time went by, by the mid 1980s, since Custom Molds, Inc.’s reputation has grown up, as a designer and fabricator for precision molds, the Millers decided to expand their business into the production of plastic parts as well. In 1985, Custom Molds, Inc. operation involved two different processes which comprised mold fabrication and plastic parts production. The differences between nature of mold and plastic part fabrication are in terms of what is done. Custom mold fabrication requires high degree of customer contacts since the company worked closely with each...
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...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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...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 1975. Tom Miller, a mechanical engineer, had more than 20 years of experience in the connector industry with AMP, Inc., a large multinational producer of electronic connectors. Mason Miller had graduated from the University of Arizona in 1974 with joint degrees in chemistry and chemical engineering. The company was originally formed to provide manufacturers of electronic 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 stage of development to large-scale production of newly designed parts. As the years went by, Custom Molds' 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 parts. Ingredient-mixing facilities and injection-molding equipment were added, and by the mid-1980s...
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...What alternatives might the Millers pursue? What key factors should they consider as they evaluate these alternatives? With the major issues facing by Custom Molds Inc., the Millers have to come out with alternatives to solve the issues before the problems become aggravated. The major issues that have been identified are the changing trend of the electronic industry, delivery problems as customers complained that the parts orders took four to five weeks instead of the stated three weeks delivery, bottlenecks occurred during production process, and two returned orders because of the number of defective parts. Alternatives that the Millers might pursue as below: Business strategy for complete phase-out of custom molds The changing trend of...
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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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...Introduction paragraph * IPL Inc. is a leader in the Canadian injection molded plastics industry, specializing in the design, manufacture, printing and marketing of plastic products, mainly intended for industrial uses and made of thermoplastic resins. IPL distinguishes itself from competitors through its emphasis on better quality and performance products, superior engineering and service, innovativeness and the capacity to meet customers’ specific needs. Objective * Julien Metivier, CEO 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...
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...help increase its profits. The intent of this paper is to decide which competitive advantages Riordan has in common with the companies researched last week, and estimate, which competitive strategies Riordan could use to improve innovation and sustainability of business operations both in the United States and in the global market. In addition, Team A will explain why the competitive strategies were chosen and will estimate how they may affect sustainability of long-term organizational performance while explaining how the global market would affect the business strategy of Riordan. Riordan Manufacturing Riordan Manufacturing is company known for their manufacturing of plastics globally. Riordan produces plastic beverage containers, custom plastic parts, and plastic fan parts from their facility in China. Riordan has become a Fortune 1000 company and has done well. Riordan expanded to China and that facility, at the time, employed more than 300 employees. Riordan has had to consider current business operations, the economy, and cultural diversity concerning forecasting for the company. Riordan Competitive Strategies One strategy of Riordan is the use of history tracking on sales. The weakness is that their sales database and their files of pat marketing research, plans, and design awards should...
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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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...Riordan Current Business Practices Audit MGT/360 University of Phoenix Riordan Current Business Practices Audit Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastics manufacturer with locations in California, Georgia, Michigan, and China. The vice president of operations decided to develop a sustainability plan. Team A has been assigned the task to conduct a business audit to evaluate the Riordan’s current business practices at each location. The audit provides valuable information to identify the nonsustainable business practices and how each effects the environment. The subject in this paper is how Riordan Manufacturing will identify their nonsustainable practices, federal regulations, mandatory, and voluntary actions necessary to implement a successful sustainability plan. Nonsustainable Business Practices The business practice audits brought to light three nonsustainable practices. The three practices highlighted by the audit include wasted energy from the plants, the use of toxic cleaning solvents, and spilled ink. These three business practices can be very harmful to the environment. Burning fossil fuels for energy creates gases such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and volatile organic compounds. These gases cause air pollution. They can cause several kinds of air pollution, particular matter, smog, and ozone (New Energy Alternative, 2008). Air pollution can travel thousands of miles and can harm areas that burn fossil fuels sparingly. The next nonsustainable...
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...Ask for additional work space if required. To be efficient, if you are unsure of your answer, clearly state your assumptions and proceed. You could always return to that question if you have additional time in the end. Please print your name in the top right hand corner of this cover sheet and sign your reaffirmation of the University of Oregon Student Conduct Code below. The University of Oregon Student Conduct Code applies to this quiz. Do not discuss any components of the quiz with other students. “I have adhered to the University of Oregon Student Conduct Code in completing this assignment.” ____________________________________ Signature Use the following to answer questions 1-3: Ferguson Molding Company produces custom bottle caps and jar covers for large cosmetic companies. Each customer owns...
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...Culture Identification Paper Japanese Culture April Bane Culture is a way of life. It is invisible like the air, but as obvious as the ground below. It is dynamic and evolving. Culture is defined as an accumulated pattern of values, beliefs, and behaviors, shared by an identifiable group of people with a common history and verbal and nonverbal symbol systems (Neulip, 2012). One such identifiable group is the Japanese. They have selectively adapted to outside influences yet their evolving culture constantly remains sensitive to nature, time, space, honor, loyalty and sincerity. As a result of this adaptive style, the Japanese culture is distinctive and as a group they are survivors. Japan is a very homogenous culture with 98.5 percent of the population being ethnic Japanese (Martin, 2012). This factor alone identifies the Japanese as a macroculture, or group, which is not to be confused with a microculture. Microcultures are those identifiable groups of people who share a set of values, beliefs, behaviors and who possess a common history and a verbal and nonverbal symbol system that is similar to the dominant culture but varies in some way, perhaps subtly. Microcultures can be different from the larger culture in a variety of ways, most often because of race, ethnicity, language, or behavior. Generally, they are the result of immigration, annexation or colonization. Microcultures also inhabit the same geographical area as the macroculture. It is...
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...the people are treated fairly and respected for who they are as workers which increases their morale. I have been impacted by the components of this study in my current work setting due to the new manager coming into our department with a positive attitude that was not present before with our previous manager. My current manager is able to relate to how hard it can be to tackle certain situations while dealing with deadlines and certain expectations, so he can definitely sympathize and encourage us with positive feedback and constructive criticism. His motto is always, “A happy worker is a productive worker,” which shows in my management style. References Baack, D. (2012). Organizational behavior. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. The Hawthorne Studies The human relations movement in management began in earnest in 1927. Researchers Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger conducted the Hawthorne Studies, focusing primarily on people rather than solely on productivity. In the studies, The primary findings of the research project were as follows: 1. The subjects responded to positive and pleasant interactions with researchers by increasing productivity rates on the job. 2. Some of the tasks performed by supervisors were...
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...This can be of concern with certain fabrics offered today. In addition, detergents and ointments often needed by a performer won't damage the fabric. Individuals who dance, swim, skate and more don't typically have the time to keep replacing their activewear as their focus remains on training. When spandex is selected, the need to regularly replace outfits worn during the sport diminishes. "Another major benefit of spandex is it molds to the skin. The performer or athlete does not need to worry about their clothing interfering with the movement of the body. However, the material stretches as the individual moves. In fact, spandex can up to 600 percent of its original length and return to its former shape when not in use. This material, first introduced in 1962, was discovered when researchers when looking for alternatives to rubber. Today it can be purchased in a wide range of colors, prints, and patterns. Many new fabric options have been introduced this year and are now available at Pine Crest...
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