Riordan Manufacturing is likely to face several challenges in its production process and plan. One major barrier is the increase in the costs used to transport their goods from the port of Hangzhou to that of Shanghai. The long queues at every port waste a lot of time resulting in unavoidable delays in delivery. The company can however opt to use land transport whereby the goods are transported by trucks. This will not only save time by reducing the long queue but will also reduce the costs that would have been spent on shipping the goods.
The language barrier between the Chinese and American personnel is another major setback during the production process. This is likely to occur if the vice plant manager, sole Chinese personnel within the management, is absent. This bottleneck could be solved by ensuring that in the absence of the vice plant manager, an interpreter is temporarily or contractually hired to ensure that the manager heading the American plant does not encounter any communication issues. It is important to ensure that the hired person has prior experience in management, is fluent in Mandarin and that he or she has a good production background.
Riordan’s process of production is also likely to be affected by harsh weather conditions in the Hangzhou bay area. Though this is a natural problem, solutions can be sought to ensure that it does not in any way affect the manufacturing process. The use of road transport could be one significant way through which this problem can be solved in situations when the conditions are not favourable for using water transport. Overall the company needs to be prepared for any possible disasters that may deter their normal functioning by ensuring that they have an efficient and effective process of disaster control. In supply chain management, for example, emergency supplies should be securely stored in safe storage facilities that are likely not to be affected by any occurring disasters, (Hale and Moberg, 197).
Prevention of bottlenecks and the establishment of effective control measures can be done by ensuring that strategic plans are developed and that prospects, possible risks as well as challenges are identified and relevant control solutions put in place (Deresky, 212-15).
References
Chase, Richard, Jacobs, Robert & Aquilano, Nicholas. Operations management for competitive advantage. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006.
Deresky, Helen. International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures. New York: Prentice Hall, 2008.
Hale, Trevor & Moberg, Christopher. Improving supply chain disaster preparedness: A decision process for secure site location. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 2005; 35, 3:195.