Production Planning and Quality Management: MGMT430 - 1401A 01 Unit 4B - Essay Example

Production Planning and Quality Management There is increased production in the specialized memory chip company, this only implies that the management of the firm has to pull up their sleeves and gorge their planning mussels a bit. Due to increased operation and production in the company, production department is required to have special considerations and planning tools to cope with the mass production that is expected in the near future. There are a number of developments in the company that makes decision making in the firm difficult however, using informed planning skills these can be made possible with a lot of ease (Tremblay 2007 pg67).

It is crystal clear that in this financial year the company has looked over the fence and has identified greener pasture. This can be proved by financial growth being realized by the company of about 10- 15 % in both its revenue and volume, this is primarily tied to worldwide increase of demand on the products manufactured in the firm. This increase in production necessitates the relocation of the firm. Stakes have to be pulled to move the firm’s resources to a new location where optimum production would be realized however, there are factors to consider for the relocation project.

Availability of a stable and skilled workforce is top priority in this mission, some locations may not be suitable because of lack of qualified work force for certain special tasks. For instance, those that requere technical skills such as in the manufacture of computers and cellular phones, this is so because they require demonstration during exhibitions and when offering after sales services. Putting all this into consideration we are able to conclude that a pool of skilled labour force is a critical requirement in this particular decision.

Depending on the prevailing circumstance, another issue of importance is financial obligations of implementing the decision to relocate the company. A large company of this nature may seek to possess an auto plant in areas that are well publicized and end up spending billions of dollars which brings in financial implications. Leading to huge over head and operating costs. It is important to note that there are some notable difference between location priorities of a manufacturing company such as the micro chip company and a service firm.

Large companies like this dealing in more than one country. The production management is expected to put into consideration accessibility to raw materials as well as a highly skilled labour force. On the other hand a service company has to consider the national taxes that the respective government is going to impose on them. For service company demographics in the area of location or relocation is a vital consideration. The type of service that a service company offers and status of the population around the area intended for the location of the firm.

For instance a firm that offers cleaning service will be located near prestige homes and factories that require intense cleaning like those dealing in food processing. However, the micro chip company considers economic policies and basic infrastructure for a smooth production operation(Tulder 2006 pg89 ). Analyzing, measuring and improving of manufacturing metric are of great importance in this situation. It is important to note that certain metrics that work well in other job roles. It is often believed that there is a combination of well tested metric indicators that are required to ensure large business objectives are met in the company, some of the matrices that are important include.

On time delivery to commit, this metric involves the portion of time that the production department takes to deliver a completed product to a committed customer as scheduled. If the amount of time used in this process can be reduced to the minimum level, the micro chip company will be able to achieve customer satisfaction in its new branch. Time taken to make changeovers; this is important because it measures the speed of time that the production unit takes to change or switch from producing a given product to another.

Say for example changing from cellular phones to processing of micro chips. These helps in balancing of production to suit demands as dictated by market forces (Lumpkin 2007 pg45). Manufacturing cycle time; this enables the production management to know how quickly, production department manufactures products after the time of release of production plan. This helps in projection of the performance of the company over a period of time. Customer fill rate, through this the management is able to note the percentage of time that the consumers receive all the ordered goods.

This mainly entails the quantity and the specification of goods ordered by customers within a new location (Lumpkin 2007 pg45).This metric is vital for location of a company because it helps in the planning of logistics and delivery of products. Supplier’s quality incoming in the company; through this the company is able to gauge the local suppliers by observing the number of time they have brought in quality raw materials against defective ones. The firm can locate its new branch in Washington DC, because of the heavy use of information technology in the city and availability of skilled labour force.

References Tremblay, V. J. (2007). Industry and firm studies. Armonk, NY [u.a.: Sharpe. Tulder, R. ., & Zwart, A. . (2006). International business-society management: Linking corporate responsibility and globalization. London: Routledge. Lumpkin, G. T., & Katz, J. A. (2009). Entrepreneurial strategic content. Bingley: JAI.