Written Assignment MT435 Operations Management Kaplan University 05/22/2013 Introduction Albatross is a family owned company that was opened in 1976 by just a few family members. Over the years the company has seen tremendous growth which seems to be causing a lot of issues their production and administrative areas.
They haven’t taken much up with newer technologies which makes what they have disorganized and not meeting the standards of most other companies in their business.As the company has grown they have added many more new processes which have been put in to the limited production spaces they have which already seemed to be maxed out. When they first went into business their expertise was in the manufacturing of the bell/mushroom anchors. In the 80’s they made the decision to expand their product line to include the snag hook anchors.
This company sells its products only at the wholesale level. Since that requires them to store more product the company really needs to rethink their overall processes and layout design of their facility.Once they can make decisions on this, it will help to give them a competitive advantage over other competitors in this market. Question One Carefully review the assignment scenario/case study.
From the limited information in the scenario/case study, along with your answers to the unit three written assignment, identify at least three direct and specific long-term and three direct and specific short term operations changes that Albatross Anchor must make to gain a clear and sustainable competitive advantage (provide detailed information to validate and support each recommended change) Long-Term Operational Changes 01) The biggest thing I see is that the plant is very old and their technology is so outdated. Their administrative offices are to say the least a bit disorganized and run very inefficiently. There is no way they can be meeting the safety standards set by the US. To make sure they get in compliance with these agencies they should get up to date to meet these standards by updating their procedures and their technology.
“For a small business, a technology should not be evaluated on its own merits but rather for the ways its implementation will allow your business to accomplish things that are impossible for your competitors” (Davidson, 2011).If they can improve on the technology that they have then this will help to increase their efficiency throughout the plant. I think they should be able to do this by setting up a 5-7 year plan because the costs of technology can be very expensive. (02) Another issue that I noticed would be the manufacturing areas that they use for the snag hook and bell anchors should be separated.
I think that this would help them increase the production on each anchor and make the processes more streamlined.It would also help so there isn’t any downtime in between the processes while you are bringing the machines up and down for the production of each anchor. This should help by giving them two separate areas where they would be manufactured which means downtime would dramatically decrease. (03) The final issue I think is the sharing of equipment that is used to create the two types of anchors that they have. The time right now to switch from making one anchor to the other is 36 hours which is a crazy amount of wasted time that they have.If they purchase new equipment and put better production processes in place for these anchors this will allow the company to produce their goods in a more efficient manner .
This can definitely help the low efficiency that they have and raise it so that all anchors can be made a lot faster. Short-Term Operational Changes (01) I think that the biggest thing that needs to happen in a short amount of time is trying to get up to date so they are meeting the standards that are set by the government. It is something that once they put into place will eed to be monitored on a continuous basis to make sure they stay up to date. They could cause themselves to be closed down if they don’t get this turned around and that could cost them a lot more money in the future. There could also be fines involved for the time they are out of code so that should be something to think about. (02) I think that another area to work on would be the shipping/receiving areas.
These departments have materials that are coming in and going out all at the same time.There isn’t much flexibility in the way these processes work which could cause the departments to not be as efficient as they could be. If they can set up schedules for their shipping and receiving of products internationally then this can help to eliminate the risk of mistakes and make them run better and more streamlined. (03) Finally I believe the setup of some of their offices isn’t the best setup to get the best efficiency from them. “Many people spend a majority of their time at work and inside an office.The office environment is one that can affect your employee's work productivity and is created by several different factors” (Cultrona, 2012).
The administrative offices are at the front of the building and the plant is right behind these offices. From the reading you can tell that these offices are very outdated and run very inefficiently because there have never really been any changes implemented in them. If they do a little “spring cleaning” and add some processes these could dramatically help the efficiency of these areas.It can help to eliminate many interruptions they might get being that close to the plant.
This again means there could be less down time which is what is needed in this company. Question Two From the list of ten operational issues in the Unit 6 assignment instructions select four operational issues. For each of the four operational issues explain in detail that operational issue will help Albatross Anchor improve; 1) job retention, 2) employee morale, and 3) employee dedication. Operational Issue One: The first issue that I see is cross training/training in general.When employees are trained in many different aspects of the company they become more of a value to this company because they are more skilled. Since the flexibility of these workers increases the company is gaining because of it.
“It provides staffing flexibility when an employee is absent for a planned vacation, emergency or after a position is vacated. When cross-trained employees step in and fulfill open job responsibilities, you don't have to spend money on temporary staff” (Pilley, 2010). It also will help with job retention because people won’t get bored in the same old job day in and day out.If they are able to do many things their morale will go up and this will likely make them work harder for the company which makes them a value for the company. The employees will feel more valued and more dedicated to the company which tends to make them work harder (dedicated).
Operational Issue Two: Another issue is ergonomics because it plays a vital role in a company’s productions. If they reorganize risk factors then they will improve their worker protection and reduce hazards that they might have. This will help employee morale because they will feel like you are doing what is needed to take care of them.The company can also asses their designs of the machines. This can help to make production work a lot faster and if the machines work better the employees will be able to operate them more efficiently which can save time. If they don’t have to work on old worn down machines they will likely like the work they are doing a stick around with the company.
Operational Issue Three: Another issue I will discuss will be profit sharing. “A smart CEO understands that employee performance is tied directly to how vested they feel to the company they work for.That's why many companies have begun to consider profit sharing plans, because they can be a powerful incentive for employees to work harder for the company and gain a sense of satisfaction from knowing they'll all get a cut of the profits” (Bos, 2010). This is something that can be a win-win for the company and its employees. Most employees want to work for companies who offer them things. If they allow the employees entrance into their profit sharing it can help the company’s shares and put money in an employee’s pocket.
Profit sharing can attract dedicated employees and ones who stick around.If you can offer these sorts of things then you can keep your people longer while keeping them happy. Their performance can be linked to this as well because if they are getting good perks then they are probably working a lot harder because they are happy. Operational Issue Four: The final issue I will discuss is Worker Analysis. It is very important in any business that you run that the employees you have in place are able and competent to do the tasks of their job.
If someone doesn’t have the skills required and are put into a job that they don’t fit then that is making them unhappy and losing the company money.When employees are suited well in the job they are in then they are more likely to be happy at their jobs and stay at those jobs a lot a longer. You will have employee morale be very high which in turn can make production go up. Conclusion Albatross Anchors being a family business doesn’t mean that they have to lose opportunities for better things for their company because they are behind in the times in certain aspects of their company.
If they can implement better processes and identify their long and short term goals needed this can help them become more efficient and more productive when it comes to their products.All the safety guidelines need to be followed to make sure that they are staying up to code with regulations so they aren’t creating dangers for their business or their employees. They need to make use of the space they already have more efficiently for their offices and maybe acquire new spaces to make sure the processes are being done the most efficient way possible. If they take just some of the few steps in this review it can help them to be a more effective and competitive company. References Bos, Peter (April 19, 2010). How to Build a Profit Sharing Plan.
Retrieved from: http://www. inc. com/guides/2010/04/profit-sharing-plan. html Cultrona, R. L. (2012).
What Is the Meaning of Office Layout? Retrieved from: http://www. ehow. com/about_6598927_meaning-office-layout_. html Davidson, Ellis (2011). The Advantages of New Technology for Businesses.
Retrieved from: http://smallbusiness. chron. com/advantages-new-technology-businesses-4047. html Pilley, Marjory (September 29, 2010). The Pros & Cons of Cross-Training Employees.
Retrieved from: http://www. brighthub. com/office/human-resources/articles/89262. aspx
