The Process of Developing a Larger Touring Class Motorcycle - Essay Example

Project motorcycles Affiliation Select one of the types of project organization that would suit the development of the larger touring class motorcycles. Outline the process steps that your company would take in order to develop the motorcycle. Provide rationale for the response. This essay intends to examine the process of developing a larger touring class motorcycle in a span of five years. The project intends to apply the functional organization structure to complete the project. The functional organization structure involves division of the task into specialized units (Cooke, Tate, & Cooke, 2011). This structure is advantageous because there is a clear chain of command, autonomy of departments, quick decision making and sharing of skills. The following model indicates the functional structure that is intended to be applied in the developing of the larger touring class motorcycle. This implies that, a project can be completed by a specific functional group equipped with the necessary skills. The process of developing a larger class touring motorcycle involves two main stages. They include manufacturing and quality control. At the manufacturing department, the necessary materials are assembled to completion and at the quality control department; the quality control inspectors conduct a visual inspection (Cooke, Tate, & Cooke, 2011). The functional groups form reservoirs of knowledge in the areas of specialization. The groups’ efficiency is attributed to well-structured communication processes, which eases decision-making. The process of developing motors larger than 1100cc intended for long distance and a proposed global market target of males aged 35-60 years requires systematic functional units to ensure that, the company does not make losses during the changeover (Cooke, Tate, & Cooke, 2011). The following are the primary raw material essential for the development of a motorcycle. Metal, rubber and plastic for the manufacture of the motorcycle body Polythene for the seats Aluminium alloy for the cylindrical piston. Manufacturing process Arrival of raw materials and other body components at the manufacturing plant. The materials should be delivered at the installation plant by just-in-time system. The process of manufacturing should start at the weld department. This process should be aided by the computer-controlled fabrication of frame lofty strength materials (Henshaw, 2012). The components are shaped into hollow tubular metal shells. The diverse sections are jointly welded. The process engrosses manual, automatic and computerized equipment. At the plastic department, sections of plastics resin pellets are liquefied and infused into moulds under lofty pressure (Henshaw, 2012). This process is referred to as injection moulding. The plastic and metal components are painted in the booths of the paint department. The process is called powder coating. It is done by a pressurized system, which disperses the paint evenly (Henshaw, 2012). Send the painted parts to the tow motor to the assembly section, where installation of parts will take place on the motorcycle frame. Then an engine of 110cc and above is mounted in the painted frame jointly with other components, and then it is sent to down the assembly queue. Installation of other parts such as brakes, foot pegs, seats, lights, radios, wheels and many others are installed on the painted motorcycle frame. It is notable that, developing of the larger touring class motorcycle requires numerous parts (Henshaw, 2012). For instance, A Honda Gold Wing motorbike requires numerous parts to develop it as a Honda Civic automobile. Quality Control The quality control inspectors embark on a physical examination of the motorcycles painted frame and the general finish of the parts. The motorcycles are felt with gloved hands to discover any faults in the finish. Then test the motorcycle with a dynamometer (Henshaw, 2012). The dyno-tests for speeding and braking, wheel alignment, emissions, lights, horn function among others are conducted. The product should meet the set global standards for performance and security. Then the motorcycles are packed and sipped to the market. Strategy for the senior management to balance short and long term needs The needs in this context refer to the demands of the market target. The company targets a proposed global market of males aged 35-60 years, earning between $ 55,000 and $ 100,000. The senior management should embrace ratified strategic management plan and approach to meet the immediate demands of the customers as well as long term for the new brand expected in the global market (Heerkens, 2002). First the marketing strategy should be study the cultural, social, geographical patterns of the global market. Then the new brand of motorcycle should be introduced to the market through online marketing strategy. The online strategy should be well coined such that all the marketing and distribution channels are reliable. Since the company is targeting a global market, it is easier to market its brand online, because this is a one-stop market accessed across the globe (Hobbs, 2009). At the beginning, the sales of the large touring class might not be high, due to the small market target attained. Therefore, the managers should embrace strategies such as discounts, free delivery and free repairs to attract customers and increase the market size, however, the managers should focus more on long-term goals. This is because a company that focuses on long-term strategies is able to sustain its operations and realization of growth and stability, compared to companies depended on short-term goals (Hobbs, 2009). The company should invest in creating of new market channels for the new product. Equally, investment in market research on similar brands from other companies should be prioritised. Market research is fundamental because it acts as an indicator of improving the quality, adjusting the price, safety improvement and comfort check of the company’s brand. It is imperative for the company’s senior management to apply this criterion to satisfy the immediate demands of the clients as well as focus on the long term needs for the long run sustenance. It should be noted that, the effects of market research and marketing channels are long run. This implies that, the small market for the larger touring class motorcycles will expand gradually and by the end of five years, when the expected changeover will take place, the company would be stretching its resources to produce more, larger touring class motorcycles to satisfy the demands of the market target (Hobbs, 2009). The company’s senior management should apply the forecasting methods such as the indicator approach method to determine the rate of growth of sales within five years and calculate the required resources for every fiscal year. The indicator approach method follows a gauge that contributes to changes in sales even when other factors are held invariable. For instance, marketing and marketing channels can be used as an indicator of determining the sales of the new brand. Some of the resources required by to run the existing program and the intended one include adequate capital to sustain the operations of manufacturing the middleweight cruisers as well as adequate raw materials for constant manufacturing process (Lock, 2006). However, on the new project of producing the larger touring class motorcycles, a lot of capital is needed to meet the following expenditure 1. Raw materials Metal, rubber and plastic for the manufacture of the motorcycle body Aluminium alloy for the cylindrical piston Polythene for the seats The raw materials listed above are required in large quantities because the large touring class motorcycles consist of numerous body parts (Lock, 2006). 2. Manufacturing process An extra cost of manufacturing the large touring motorcycle is needed. This is because this process is a bit lengthy and thus costly. In addition, more skilled and non-skilled labour is required to fit in the gaps created by extending the manufacturing line (Lock, 2006). 3. Marketing and distribution channels Creating of more marketing channels aimed at a specific market target requires extra resources to accomplish the intended goal. Conversely, distribution of the new brand along the distribution channels until reaches the final user needs resources for timely and appropriate delivery (Lock, 2006). Suggest the project management leadership style that is most conducive to overseeing the operation of the business growth plan. The conceptual leadership style is a convenient and most appropriate style of overseeing the growth of a business plan. This is because the leader has high cognitive complexity and people course (Lock, 2006). The leader applies data from diverse sources and considers numerous alternatives before making a decision. A business plan can expand rapidly, when numerous alternatives are considered, when making a decision affecting a company’s operations and staff. Recommend at least three (3) risk mitigation strategies to address project plan details that might be forgotten or overlooked Risk management plan Risk avoidance risk retention Evaluation of the risk management plan References Cooke, H., Tate, K., & Cooke, H. (2011). Project management. New York: McGraw-Hill. Heerkens, G. (2002). Project management. New York: McGraw-Hill. Henshaw, P. (2012). How your motorcycle works: Your guide to the components & systems of modern motorcycles. Hobbs, P. (2009). Project management. New York, N.Y: DK Pub. Lock, D. (2006). Project management. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Gower. Read More