Operations Management: Copier Rehabilitation Facility Case Analysis - Assignment Example

Operations Management: Copier Rehabilitation Facility Case Analysis Executive Summary This report identifies the explicit and implicit problems within the copier rehabilitation facility located near Charleston. Moreover, this paper provides recommended measures specific to counter each problem as identified. The facility is deficit of a strategic inbound and outbound logistics which is the internal problem of the operations department. The corporate strategy, on one hand, is the larger and external problem. This report recommends tools particularly communication and forecasted feasible plans to effectively operate the facility. Problem Areas and Recommendations Situation: The copiers transported from distributors arrive at unpredictable time intervals and in variable bulks. Another relative issue is that the rehab facility tends to receive massive and used up copiers which had accumulated largely from the distributors’ warehouses. These situations make it difficult for the management to forecast concretized and feasible plan for operations. With an absence of a controlled system of operation, it will be strenuous for the responsible department to keep up with the current market demands which can be a grave threat to the facility in return. Proposed Solutions: To counter the two issues, first, the operations manager needs to gather collective information about its distributors and then determine the approximate quantity that each distributor delivers in a specific period. This should allow the operations manager to forecast flexible working logistics systems. However, if the supply flow is impossibly predictable, then the operations manager will have to require the distributor to coordinate closely with the management prior to the delivery. The manager will have to indicate the maximum quantity the facility can accommodate for the time-being through the inventory. Communication is another key here. In an even larger context, the operations management would have to come up with a system that proves viable to the distributors as well. However, there will be times when the system is not feasible to the distributors. In which case, the facility may present the option of leverage. Situation: Charleston facility appears to have not streamlined the repair materials which the copier rehab facility needs. Although this situation is out of the control of the latter, its supply operations will be compromised because of the supplier’s lack of material management. Material management is the one of the two indispensable components of logistics which involves the economic process of inbound materials for the completion of the end-product (Waters & Waters, 1999, p. 188). Logistics is what the facility is all about. Proposed Solution: One of the options for the copier rehab facility is to outsource the required repair parts until the Charleston facility gains control of its materials again. The task may be time-consuming. However it is also an opportunity for the facility to canvass for cheaper materials from other suppliers. Another option is to cannibalize some of the used up copiers. This strategic process involves the utilization of reusable parts of non-reusable products. Cannibalization is not only feasible for the facility; it is also practical because the process gradually minimizes wastes and the demand of spare materials (Salomon et al., 1995, p. 125). Situation: The purchasing department uses outdated economic order quantities. Understanding the dynamics of demand should not go unheeded since demand is basic in devising a tactical operation that paces with the supply chains behavior (Lowson, 2002, p. 183). Apart from that, the larger cause of the problem appears to be a lack of communication between operation and the purchasing departments in which the by-product could be the probing behavior of the latter. If this kind of unhealthy bureaucratic relationship continues between both departments, it will be hard for the operations management to hasten their acquisition of quality materials. Proposed Solution: The primary role of the operations management is to provide a timely EOQ data. It is burdened to communicate and justify the gathered data to the purchasing department. Moreover, consistent communication paves the way of establishing a healthy working relationship. The concept of material requirements planning (MRP) can be useful for the operations department. MRP system is used to acquire the highest possible precision of control of the flow of the materials by predicting the periods when demand is highest or lowest (Siegel & Shim, 1999, p. 306). The MRP system presents updated data needed to calculate the current EOQ. MRP may require too many elaborate and valuable technological efforts (Galloway, 1993, p. 121). However, it is also more important for the facility to gather an updated EOQ. With the use of updated economic order quantity, the management could make a sequential schedule based on the demands of specific repair parts. With this, transporting delays could be reduced. MRP may even render more favorable returns than not applying its principle. Situation: Due to legal concerns and the impractical effects of temporary staffing, the resource department decides to rather invest on permanent staffing levels. However, since the facility thrives on periodic demands of labor, the plan may only weaken the financial condition of the facility. In the long run, staffing permanent workers may slowly become less practical than hiring temporary ones. Proposed Solution: First, the operations department should assert the fact that staffing temporary workers is more convenient for the facility with respect to the rise and fall of labor demand in the industry. Periodic training must be included during the labor planning. The facility would have to retain few experienced workers who will serve as the trainers of the temporary workers. Unlike the workers employed only during high seasons, the trainers are permanent. This human capital strategy lessens the responsibility of the personnel department. Conclusion Ironically, there is an utter lack of strategic logistics management in this facility. It is evident in the material flow chain and in the procurement. Repair facilities need to have a strategic inbound and outbound logistics. Overhauling the operation practices could permit the application of MRP system. Through MRP, the facility will be able to forecast strategic operations while gaining quality control and utilization of materials. It is where the facility greatly benefits from remanufacturing (Salomon, 1995, p. 128). Furthermore, the operations department lacks a stable working interaction with other departments such that there seems to be an ineffective corporate strategy. The organization should come up with intervention schemes (mainly the role of the human resource department) to nurture a functional relationship among its constituents. References Galloway, L. (1993). Principles of operations management. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=Y6QOAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover &hl=en&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Lowson, R. (2002). Strategic operations management: The new competitive advantage. Available from http://www.questia.com/read/102807831?title=Strategic%20Operations %20Management:%20The%20New%20Competitive%20Advantage Salomon, M., Thierry, M., Nunen, J., & Wassenhove, L. (1995). Strategic issues in product recovery management. California Management Review, 37 (2), 114-135. Retrieved from https://www.esm.ucsb.edu/academics/courses/289/Readings /Thierry%20et%20al.%201995.pdf Siegel, J., & Shim, J. (1999). Operations management. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=AbFUpMcYPZUC&printsec=frontcover &dq=operations+management&hl=en&ei=aTd2TMQgjJi8A5nFyaMG&sa= X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=snippet&q =material%20control&f=false Waters, C., & Waters, D. (1999). Operations management. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=pY9pMcACHjIC&printsec=frontcover&hl =en&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Read More