Main Problems Facing Pride Industries - Essay Example

Main Problems Facing Pride Industries Introduction Pride Industries is a company established in 1966 by a group of women in a church basement in Auburn. The core goal for the establishment of Pride company is the provision of the adult children of the parents who have a disability with equal opportunities in the society. Pride Industries would provide employment opportunities for the founders children at adult age; this would help them to overcome their disabilities hence contributing in the development of the society. Pride Industries currently boasts of two departments of which one is the IFS, which is, undertakes activities such as clean room, commercial custodial and facilities maintenance, offering services in the military base operations and transportation. In addition, IFS provides specialized services to both private and public customers such as food services, maintenance of grounds, and provision of shipboard and commissary operations. The other division of the Pride Industries is the Manufacturing and Logistics Services (MLS) division. There is service provision such as offering production contracts to original manufactures of electronics, contract packaging, fulfillment services and supply chain solutions. Print services, mail and e-store to Fortune 10+ companies, as well as logistics services are also crucial for the company. HP as its service supplier of the year recognized the business in 2010. Pride Industries has its foundation with the core mission of creating employment opportunities to people with disabilities. There is an implication that, the company can have classification as a social enterprise whose main purpose is to fulfill a specified social need as well as make profits to support its operations. I. Main Problems Facing Pride Industries Pride Industries is facing various problems with respect to its operations as well as the company’s core social mission. Since it initiation, the core social mission of the pride companies was to provide employment to the disabled individuals in the society. However, the company is facing problems in integrating the long-term operations strategies into its core social responsibility. The major problem that arises is the adoption of more efficient and modern production line, which has an expectation to cost the company approximately $2.6 million. There is quite a high investment given the fact that most of the returns of the company have direction towards the fulfillment of its core social mission or responsibility. Majority of the senior workers in the business including it director of finance operations and the vice president of the company’s sales operations are not optimistic about the current project by the company. Regardless of its success in the past, Pride companies are currently facing a decline in the returns because of technological advancements, which pushes them in adopting systems that have an expectation to enhance productivity as well as increase its customer base. The major issue arising from this project is that the amount allocated for investing in the purchase of the new equipment is quite and would result in the company’s total failure in the case of occurrence of failure in their projections. Other problems facing the Pride Industries include loss of the current customers who appreciate the modern equipments. Determination of the target market for the products, integration of the core social mission of the company projection. Business strategies and declined company’s returns because of advancement in technology is a factor worth considering. II. SMT Operation and Characteristics The current SMT operations at the Pride Industries involve the production of printed board circuits for electronic manufacturing companies. The company obtains contracts from various production companies in the United States based on the needs of their customers. The company then produces the circuits and supplies them to the contracting company. This mode of operation is suits the Pride Industries best since its operations have headquarters in the United States. Old machines characterize the SMT operation of the Pride Industries, provision of employment to the disabled, inefficient machinery in terms of mass production. III. Appropriate Operation Strategy for SMT The current Surface mount technology used by the Pride Industries is efficient but will soon lose business because of the needs by many manufacturers of electronics to reduce the size of their products. Various companies in the electronic industry are adopting the use of small devices, therefore, have upgraded their equipments to meet the needs of their customers. On the other hand, Pride Industries is using the old machinery in their Surface Mount Technology strategies. A company can increase its returns by use of a modern and effective Surface Mount Technology operations strategy in various methods. The Pride Industries can adopt the new SMT operation that embrace the advancement in technology in a bid to capture the prospective customers attention. Most of the production companies are running away from the Pride Industries because of their outdated Surface Mount Technology operations. The current electronic industry is moving toward the use of smaller devices, therefore, the need for the Pride Industries to adopt a modern way of SMT operations system. The smallest component that the equipments at Pride Industries can support has designation as 0402, which reduces efficiency of the machines if produced in large quantities. The market demand for these components ranges from 0402 to 01005, which represents 0.01 inch×0.005 inch. The pride industries should adopt an SMT operation strategy that produces components as per the market demands. IV. Adoption of the Proposed SMT The Pride Industries should go ahead in implementing the SMT proposal. The proposed SMT operation by the Pride Industries focuses on buying new equipment for the SMT line as well changing the company’s business strategy. The Pride Industries is a company based in the United States implying that the chances of the company’s products gaining the local business trust were quite as compared to international companies. The company plans on capitalizing on the onshore business and the use of the made in America should which would enhance their marketing strategy. The new SMT line has expectation to provide approximately forty-eighty persons of which majority are disabled. The proposed Surface Mount Technology operations strategy will serve in fulfilling the company’s long-term objective. Provision of the core social responsibility is the provision of employment to physically challenged individuals in the society. The proposed SMT operation strategy is purchasing Surface Mount Technology machines, which are flexible and efficient in the production process. There is an implication that the proposed strategy will be effective in developing the company’s production levels as well as enable flexibility in case of changes in the market demand. Moreover, the proposed SMT operation strategy will serve in developing the company’s business base since the machinery used is relevant in the new technology implying that it will meet the needs of the prospective customers. Most of the Company’s customers are seeking other options because of the company’s inability to update its system, therefore, the adoption of the new proposal will bring back such customers. V. SMT process type and layout design The company uses old equipments in producing the printed circuit boards, which are losing business because of the advancement in the electronic technology. The process of contracting production companies is efficient, but most of the companies are seeking the services of more modernized companies. The Pride Industries SMT process involves contracting electronic manufacturing companies and providing them with their services. The company agrees on a contract, which lasts for a given period time. In accordance the company’s strategy, the SMT process is working efficiently but has a limitation by the use of outdated equipments, which hinders potential customers. VI. Outsourcing Outsourcing is the process of obtaining goods or services from a foreign supplier. Outsourcing in the case of Pride Industries refers to obtaining goods from other countries where there is labor and efficient mass production. The company thinks of outsourcing its operations to china by obtaining goods from China and assembling in the United States. There are various benefits of outsourcing with reference to the Pride Industries, which include; · Outsourcing will allow the company to reduce the cost of production as well as acquire more customers since the products will be assembled in the United States. · Outsourcing will allow the Pride Industries to increase the levels of production since their main role will be assembling of the products and availing them to the customers. · Outsourcing of other services such as supply services will benefit the company in reducing the cost incurred while providing the services. Regardless of the above advantages in outsourcing operations, Pride Company faces other disadvantages, which include · The company main objective is providing employment to individuals with disabilities in the society. This is the core mission of the Pride Industries, which would not have its achievement in case the company outsources it operations. Outsourcing will result in loss of jobs to people working in the business, which contradicts the company core social mission. · Outsourcing also increases the cost of production indirectly because of the cost incurred in transportation processes same as the period for the shipment to arrive at the designated place. In conclusion, Pride Industries should adopt the proposed SMT operations and avoid outsourcing of its operations in order to fulfill its core social mission. Reference Read More