Introduction
Eastern Gear is a company that manufactures customized gears for various customers, such as development laboratories, small manufacturers, and engineering research firms. The decision of the firm’s president, Roger Rhodes, to fulfil orders of more than 100 gears led to an increase in profits. However, it adversely affected the company’s production efficiency and the quality of its final products. The objective of this analysis is to assess the challenges that the company is facing and providing suggestions on how they can be resolved.
Major Challenges Faced by Eastern Gear
The most significant challenge faced by Eastern Gear is a delay in fulfilling customers’ orders. This is largely attributed to the duplication of processes and information. Specifically, order details are repeated on multiple forms, and unnecessary queries emerge from different departments. Poor communication within the organization is a significant hindrance to a smooth flow in the production process. This has resulted in incorrect inventory levels and errors in transactions.
Secondly, the company’s production process has an inefficient raw material inventory system. Most of the key raw materials are not readily available in stock, thereby forcing the firm to waste up to three weeks before fulfilling orders. The situation has been further compounded by the decision to take up large and urgent orders, which has significantly constrained the company’s resources. The company’s production rate is very low, mainly because of the disorganized and ineffective factory layout. The quality of the firm’s products is also very low, as illustrated by the 6% return rate of completed orders. This is an indication of a lapse in the company’s quality control system.
Action Plan
Several measures can be put in place to address the challenges at Eastern Gears. To begin with, an efficient raw material inventory system should be put in place to reduce the company’s production cycle time. As a result, the time required to fulfil orders will reduce. Measures aimed at improving the production rate should focus on creating a more efficient factory layout that has several assembly lines rather than stations. One of the assembly lines should be dedicated to urgent orders that normally interfere with the production and delivery of regular orders. High-quality standards are of essence if the company has to maintain a consistent clientele. To this end, the company’s management has to focus on the implementation of a total quality management (TQM) system. This involves introducing quality checks at various points in the production line to detect defects.
Relationship with Operations Strategy and Process Design
The focus of the company’s operations strategy should be to enhance efficiency in production and improving the quality of its products through the implementation of lean production policies. A lean operation system will significantly improve the production rate by ensuring a smooth flow of raw materials, elimination of unnecessary motions, and reduced transportation costs. It will also reduce excess inventory and minimize defects in finished products. Generally, more resources should be employed to improve the production process and product quality.
Conclusion
The challenges facing Eastern Gears are attributed to its decision to fulfil urgent orders using inadequate resources. This has resulted in a reduction in the quality of products and delays in delivery of orders. Thus, the company should implement a total quality management system by introducing multiple quality control checks in its assembly line.