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Wriston Manufacturing Corporation

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Wriston Manufacturing Corporation
By Christy Smith, Marty Hiemstra, Albert Sommerfeld, Mike Peterson, Dawn Buckman

Executive Summary

Wriston Manufacturing Corporation - Heavy Equipment Division (HED) is a large manufacturer of axles and brakes for the automotive industry. Wriston operates nine plants, eight located in the US and one located in Essex, Canada. Over the last several years, the Detroit plant finances and productivity have become an issue. As a result, an analysis of the plant is being reviewed to assess the feasibility of keeping the plant open and for how long, and upon determining if the plant continues to operate, which components it will continue to produce.

Background

The Detroit plant is the oldest of the nine plants. This plant produces replacement parts, low volume rear on-highway axles, and low volume off highway axles. Currently, the Detroit plant has a very large overhead cost, uses outdated machinery and operates within buildings that require repair or replacement in the near future. In addition, the culture within the plant is problematic as there is very low staff morale, high absenteeism and high turnover rate.

The Detroit plant currently stocks 940 incoming parts used in the production of finished goods. Inventory ordering and control has been handled by the existing, long term staff for many years. There is no complete inventory control system in place and not all parts are kept on computer records. Inventory accuracy relies on intermittent physical counts by company employees. The plant is currently running at a 10% out-of-stock rate on raw goods inventory.

Analysis

There are several options that Wriston has to consider when analyzing the continual operation or closure of the Detroit plant.

Alternative 1 - Close the Plant and Distribute the Production of the Parts Amongst other Plants:

When considering

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