Management of Honeywell International - Essay Example

? Improving quality and production This paper is a report about the Honeywell International from bitter to sweet article, which I read and critically analyzed. It contains the useful information from the article and from the insights gained; there are applications of the skills to the work environment. This paper also relates the article to a small laundry appliance repair business company trying to improve their quality and production. Introduction Companies and organizations after determining customer needs usually concentrate on meeting the desired needs of their customers. This is done by producing high quality products at an efficient rate. Although this is a challenge to many companies, there are a couple of strategies that are used in order to improve the quality and also the production of goods and services. Using the case of the Honeywell International, the "Honeywell operating system" (HOS) will be analyzed and used as one of the many examples of the strategies that companies and organizations that want an increase in both their quality of goods and productions level apply. Summary The article “From Bitter to Sweet” is about the Honeywell International which is a factory in Lincolnshire that produces electronics. 8 years ago, it adopted a new production system which is commonly known as the "Honeywell operating system" (HOS) and was the reason for the transformation of the once known troubled giant into the successful company that it is known today (From Bitter to Sweet, 2012). HOS has proved fruitful from the results that have been witnessed by the company. It is reported that there is an improvement in productivity. The sector has become more efficient. What they used to produce and deliver in 42days is now done within 10 days. Their sales have increased by 72% with a period of nine years and their profits have doubled over the years to $4 leading to an increase in revenue. The history of Howell dates back to 1999 where the original Honeywell was bought by a company known as Allied Signal and the joining of the two companies proved to be hard because of the different management structure. But when Mr. Cote took it over in 2002, he brought new cultures that included 12 behaviors and reshuffling of the portfolio and also introduced HOS. These improvements seemed remarkable. Today Honeywell is in a strong and stable position in the industry despite having many competitors like the Johnson Controls, United Technologies among others. Although there were some problems experienced in the implementation of the new strategy like employees resistance to the changes, the company’s share prices has far outperformed the S&P 500 and has even opened other branches both country wide and worldwide (From Bitter to Sweet, 2012). Analysis of the topic Improving the quality and production of a company is an important undertaking for organizations survival. Therefore organizations strive in order to be the best at what they do and to outdo their competitors and also to maintain their customers. From the case of the Honeywell International, we can see how the organization changed its operating system and became a very successful company. The HOS is known to be a system that assures quality and is based on the Six Sigma principle. Its core elements are made up of an improvement process that is continuous that is there should be the workforce involvement in operation processes and all the production processes are required to be in a way that is synchronized with the customer's needs. Another aspect of HOS is it emphasizes control geared production strictly to match customer requirements. This ensures that stocks are minimized hence provide an increases in productivity that is substantial (From Bitter to Sweet, 2012). Another name for this policy is the pull system. This system is market oriented and saves organizations the cost of forecasting and researching the market to see which products they can produce. Through fault minimization in the production area, the results will be that the company will reduce its stocks levels reason being that all parts that are forwarded to the production area will undergo inspection of their quality and will be tested. When production processes are synchronized, cost will be reduced. This is because the time taken to produce goods and services will be reduced and to add to that overproduction that results from the addition of elements that are of none value in the manufacturing sector will be reduced. Hence efficiency in the production process will be enhanced. Transportation cost and wastage of time will also be reduced Organizations should ensure that the workforce is qualified for there to be standardization in the production process. This is very crucial as it ensures continuous improvement and allows innovation in the production process. In today’s world modern enterprises regard the standard of employee’s qualification as a key competitive advantage. Their effective involvement in workplace reorganization should be an active one. The reason being that through their suggestion, improvements can be made in the production sector leading to more efficiency. Customers show their loyalty to the company because of the improved product quality which is also available. This leads to increased productivity and reduces the capital expenditure. An additional advantage is that the firm is able to cushion rising costs of raw material effects and brings the company to a competitive advantage against its competitors. From the readings, I gained several insights. First, I have come to learn that the customer is pretty much the most important party in the survival of an organization or business. Products that are produced by the business should be made according to the customer’s requirements. Efficiency in the production process is achieved mainly by synchronizing the process. This in turn leads to reduced cost in the production. Employees also play a major role in bringing efficiency. They should be allowed to contribute their suggestions of improving the production process. All this in addition to good management system will lead to improved quality and production of a business. Application of the knowledge The information obtained from the article and other sources will be applicable in my organization. The organization is an appliance repair business which sales and repairs clothes washers and dryers. The challenge faced by the organization is that it has tried to improve quality and reduce warranty cost for the year. The overcoming of this challenge can be done through several ways. First by synchronizing the production process, there would be reduced cost. By use of the six sigma theory of management, the business will increase efficiency in production by identifying and removing the cause of defects in production which will minimize wastage in the sector and raw materials required will be lower. The theory also advocates for long-standing expertise in quality assurance systems. Therefore through its adoption it will lead to improved quality production. And through the increased efficiency in production, production would be faster leading to the improvement of the time from when an order to repair is taken to its execution .A reduction in the number of warranty calls will also be achieved by the quality products. By employing qualified employees, high standards of production will be maintained. The business is also encouraged to inspect the quality of the raw material they use to make this achievement. In conclusion, for business survival, they should ensure that the management strategy they use is effective. The application of the HOS has proved to be very effective especially in the sector of improved quality and production. Managers are encouraged to be open- minded to try new things that will benefit the business. For the success of any business customer needs should be considered as customers are fully responsible for the revenues the business gets. Reference From Bitter to Sweet (2012). How one of America's most messed-up firms became one of its best. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/21552631?fsrc=nlw|mgt|4-18-2012|1426496|73638989|AP Read More