...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 Currently, the Detroit plant has a very large overhead cost, uses outdated machinery and operates within buildings that require repair or replacement in the near future.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...
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...Table of Contents INTRODUCTION AND MAIN ISSUES 3 ANALYSIS 4 Qualitative 4 Quanitative 5 Breakeven Point (BEP) 5 Flexible Budget 6 Variances 7 RECOMMENDATION 8 Encourage, motivate, reward and recognize 8 Cellular Manufacturing System 8 Implement new accounting method 9 Extend the contract 9 ACTION PLAN 10 REFERENCES 12 INTRODUCTION AND MAIN ISSUES Danshui was a contract manufacturer that assembled electronic products for companies wishing to save labour costs by locating in southern China. Because of high demand for iPhone 4, Apple had contracted with Danshui to assemble iPhone in Plant No. 2. The contract need Danshui to assemble 2.4 million iPhone in the period between June 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011. Wentao Chen, manager of Danshui Plant No. 2 was worried because in the third month of the contract production was only 180,000 units per month. Suppose to produce 2.4 million iPhone its need 200,000 units per month. After preliminary budget has come out, the company loss of $672,000. The main issue of this case is the break contract between Danshui and Apple. The contract called Danshui to assemble 2.4 million in the period of one year, but Danshui only can produce 180,000 units per months. If Danshui still can produce that amount, it can’t reach 2.4 million in one year. This might happen because Danshui cannot find people to hire, even though they have raised wages by almost 30%. Another reason is they have problem with the...
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...then labour hours. Labour hours Machine hours Standard products (high volume) 2500 3500 Specialised products (low volume) 1500 3000 Total 4000 6500 Difference Budgeted labour rate 42,5 279500/6500=43 -0,5 Budgeted overhead burden 149,825 599300/6500=92,2 57,625 Total Cost 192,325 135,2 57,125 2) As known, the most commonly used allocation base in traditional costing is direct labor hours. We can also see this in the case. But at this point, we may face with some problems such that in this process overhead is increasing while direct labor is decreasing. There is an 1800$ increase whereas 46% increase in the overheads dramatically. Moreover, we see a variance and complexity in the production process. Tankmaster Manufacturing Company is producing to distinct products which are standard and specialised products. While, standard products have a higher labour hours/machine hours ratio (2500/3500), specialized products' ratio is (1500/3000). So, we understand that standard products use more labor force whereas specialized products use more machinery. This indicates that a plantwide overhead...
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...and Personal Computers. With the huge demand for their products, there comes an enormous responsibility for manufacturing the devices in a quick and cost effective matter. With the rapidly growing market of Apple computers and the technology/electronic industry as a whole, Apple eventually had to rethink how they manufactured their products to create the most efficient outcome; the highest revenue with the lowest cost. The competitive nature of the technology industry causes companies to look for a competitive advantage, which will make them much more profitable than their competitors. For the majority of the company’s history, they have been known to manufacture their products in the USA and even prided themselves with building the Macintosh computer which Steve Jobs described as “a machine that is made in America”. In 2004, when the company was not nearly as financially profitable as they are today, they decided their best option was to start manufacturing their products in other countries. The company, who is now a leader in foreign manufacturing, was lagging behind many American companies in terms of manufacturing abroad at that point in time. The majority of their foreign manufacturing takes place in Asia, specifically in China. In the New York Time’s article, “How the U.S lost out on iPhone Work,” Charles Duhigg described Apple’s move to foreign manufacturing from the words of a former Apple executive, “For Mr. Cook, the focus on Asia “came down to two things,”… Factories...
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...TermPaperWarehouse.com - Free Term Papers, Essays and Research Documents The Research Paper Factory Join Search Browse Saved Papers Home Page » Business and Management Steel Industries of Bangladesh In: Business and Management Steel Industries of Bangladesh STEEL INDUSTRIES OF BANGLADESH REPORT ON FOCUS The report “Bangladesh on its way of becoming self sufficient in rod production, export is also a possibility” by Shuvankar karmakar, that was analyzed here, was published in the Daily Prothom Alo, on 17th November, 2012. BACKGROUND Bangladesh Steel industry is emerging as one of the major industrial sectors of the country. It consists of small up to the largest scale of steel melting and re-rolling factories across the country that mostly produce deformed bar rod of different grade (40, 60, 500), angel, channel and coil for the construction industry. Though the history of Steel Industry is not older one but it can make a glorious future. Before 1971 Bangladesh did not have any steel mill and even after the liberation there were only a few steel factories in the country. In 1990s the actual development began in this sector through a revolution. During that period the building constructing agencies or developer companies came forward to build modern infrastructure. Then with the increasing demand, new investors started investing in steel or rod production. In 2012 we have almost 400 mills across the country including Dhaka, Chittagong...
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...AC1110568Assignment 01 In the early 1800 clothing was made by hand, families sewed their pants, shirt and dresses using a needle and thread. But in 1866 Elias Howe changed all that he came up with another way to make clothes. Elias Howe patented the first practical sewing machine this sewing machine make the industry come back on his original invention made it possible for man production of clothing on a much larger scale that ever been possible with hand stitching. The impact of the sewing machine on the economy is huge. Specifically the sewing machine greatly impacted the textile industry and women. Because women were the ones working in the textile mills they were the ones to use the machine, however some believed that this would infringe on their craft as skilled seamstresses. Others thought this to be a wonder and felt it freed them to pursue other things rather than sit home and sew clothes. In some way the women working with the machines gained a new skill, and were seen as important for the industry. The sewing machine allowed clothing to become a mass produced item which increased the social acceptance of the sewing machine. Besides the commercial sewing machine, the household machine became very popular when it became electric. If you had electric in your home you could have a sewing machine and it was even easier and faster than the hand powered models. The sewing machine also helped other industries grow, for example the need for large quantities of thread...
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...Reshoring and its’ effect on America Hideo Mera Webster University Abstract The paper is going to discuss the trend of reshoring and it effect on America. Reshoring is the action of a company to bring jobs back to the United States (US) that were once being done overseas. The trend has been happening a little bit over the years but has gained some steam over the past few years. Some of the reasons for this shift is that the low cost labor advantages that some countries had in the past is eroding due to inflation and other factors. Another factor is costs associated with the logistics of getting parts from overseas location to your market in the US. There are other factors to consider when it comes to reshoring such as innovation, diminished customization, and concerns of quality. All of these factors are reasons that reshoring is occuring and gaining steam. Reshoring Reshoring is when jobs that were once being performed overseas is being brought back to the US. This trend has been happening over last few years but in the last couple of years this trend has gained some steam because the cost saving that were once so prevelant overseas is no longer being realized now. The cheap labor force that existed isn’t as cheap as it once was. The areas of the world that supplied the cheap labor have risen the wages of their workers and the skill set that is required is no longer available. Another factor that there is to consider is the logistics of moving parts from overseas...
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...upgrade competitiveness. Government can influence each of the above four determinants of competitiveness. Clearly government can influence the supply conditions of key production factors, demand conditions in the home market, and competition between firms. Government interventions can occur at local, regional, national or supranational level. Chance events are occurrences that are outside of control of a firm. They are important because they create discontinuities in which some gain competitive positions and some lose. The Porter thesis is that these factors interact with each other to create conditions where innovation and improved competitiveness occurs To what extent can Porter's diamond help explain the choice of Taiwan as a major manufacturing site for Logitech? Porter's diamond considers four...
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...Transition by Maureen Metcalf Company Profile ‘One of the Most Admired Companies’ in its industry per Fortune magazine, Worthington Industries, founded in 1955, grew from humble beginnings to a multi-billion dollar metal processing company. Today, the firm employs 8,000 people in 67 facilities throughout 11 countries. The company’s success is credited to its customer-centered philosophy, based on the Golden Rule. This philosophy, in addition to an unwavering commitment to the customer, and one of the strongest employee/employer partnerships in American industry serve as the company’s foundation. Challenge and Vision With the continuing growth and diversification of Worthington Industries, inventories naturally grew as well. As with many manufacturing firms, inventory has a significant impact on revenue and cash flow. Maintaining inventories larger than necessary negatively impacts the bottom line. Thus, the firm wanted to gain better insight into their inventories and processes and increase their supply chain informationto a higher level of detail. The company had a vision of further improving the level of customer service, while using less working capital and inventory. In order to achieve this goal, every process that impacted supply chain management and inventory needed to be closely evaluated. Surfacing every issue that could be preventing the firm from providing better customer service—new processes could be identified and implemented. The goal for the company was to improve...
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...Finished Goods Inventory (Dec. 31) $13,900 The sales for Transcontinental Inc. during this year were $1,050,000 and a total of 4,800 units were completed during the year. Compute the following for the year: 1. Cost of materials used? _$197,300____ [Cost of Material Purchased + (Difference between Material Inventory Jan 1 - Material Inventory Dec 31)] 2. Factory overhead? ___$189,600____ [Depreciation – factory machinery + Small tools expense + Machine helpers wages + Miscellaneous factory expenses + Power – factory + Factory insurance expense+ Factory Supervisor Salary] …..All other costs are Administrative overhead and not Factory Overhead 3. Total manufacturing cost? $_555,200__ [Cost of Material Used + Factory Overhead + Direct Labor Cost] 4. Cost of goods manufactured? _$548,600___ [Total manufacturing cost + (Difference between Work-in-process inventory Jan 1 - Work-in-process...
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...of Just-In-Time Distribution (JITD) in the 1980’s as an alternative to Barilla’s traditional practice of delivering products to their distributors (Hammond, 1). Instead of distributing Barilla’s products based on the orders the distributors placed with the company, Barilla’s own logistics organization would determine the product quantities to distribute that would most effectively meet end-consumers needs. This in turn, would more evenly distribute the workload on Barilla’s manufacturing and logistics systems (Hammond, 1). Vitali hoped his innovative idea would solve the tremendous fluctuation that occurred from week to week in the number of Barilla dry products being ordered by the distributors. The extreme demand variability seriously strained Barilla’s manufacturing and logistics operations. Barilla’s highly automated manufacturing system was not designed to accommodate large fluctuations in demand nor, was it designed to accommodate sudden changes in demand or product. The manufacturing sequences of pasta production made it very difficult to produce particular types of pasta that had been sold out due to unexpectedly high demand. The temperature and humidity in the kiln had to be precisely specified for each size and shape of pasta and had to be tightly controlled to ensure that quality was maintained (Hammond, 3). This procedure limited the ability to rapidly shift production between different pastas. Different sizes of pasta were also made in different plants...
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...William P. Worth ACCC 560 EXERCISES & PROBLEMS Chapter One January 13, 2012 EX 1-5Ikerd Company is a manufacturer of personal computers. Various costs and expenses associated with its operations are as follows. The company intends to classify these costs and expenses into the following categories: (a) direct materials, (b) direct labor, (c) manufacturing overhead and (d) period costs. | | 1. | Property taxes on the factory building. D | 2. | Production superintendents' salaries. B | 3. | Memory boards and chips used in assembling computers. A | 4. | Depreciation on the factory equipment. D | 5. | Salaries for assembly-line quality control inspectors. B | 6. | Sales commissions paid to sell personal computers. C | 7. | Electrical components used in assembling computers. A | 8. | Wages of workers assembling personal computers. B | 9. | Soldering materials used on factory assembly lines. A | 10. | Salaries for the night security guards for the factory building. C | | | List the items (1) thru (10) for each item, indicate the cost category to which the items belong. Rapid Delivery Service reports the following costs ands expenses in June 2011 Indirect materials$5400 Product cost Drivers' salaries $11,000 Product cost Depreciation on delivery equip $11,200 Product cost Advertising$1,600 Period cost Dispatcher's salary $5000 Product cost Delivery equip repair$300 Product cost Property taxes on...
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...Rich Manufacturing So many firms use cost-plus pricing for supply contracts because it is the easiest method in order to calculate cost and eliminate error. Most of the time when firms are working with numbers, they must find ways that are efficient and not time consuming. What managers do is simply target a rate of return thus saving time and increase efficiency. In fact, it can be more useful in some occasions than others. As stated by Brickley, Smith, and Zimmerman (2009), “cost-plus pricing is more useful when the rate of return that yields the profit-maximizing price on the product is relatively stable over the relevant range of cost variation for a given product and varies little across a related set of products. (p. 212). One of the potential problems I envision with cost-plus pricing is the attention to consumer demand. For cost-plus pricing, this aspect is very much ignored. According to Brickley, Smith and Zimmerman (2009), cost-plus pricing ignores the rise in costs and neglects how the price sensitivity of consumers. Disregarding demand can be detrimental to a company and is a crucial factor. “If demand is slow, then the mark-up percentage may be lower in order to lure in customers. On the other hand, if demand for the product is high and economic conditions are good, then the mark-up percentage may be higher as the company feels they can get the higher price for their product” (Peavler, 2013). Both of these factors demand and pricing, are critical to increasing...
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...Trident University International Module 2 Case Assignment Fall 2011 QMT 401 – Introduction to Total Quality Management Dr. Jill Johnson 29 Oct 2011 When it comes to automobile designing, manufacturing, marketing and purchasing the selections offered to the consumer can be absolutely confusing and frustrating because this is a major purchase and it needs to be the right one. I believe it is also safe to say that in these times of economic downturn a majority of new car buyers are looking for a “quality” product that will last them through the life cycle of the vehicle while meeting their purchase demands. The automobile industry knows of this demand which is why you see ads and commercials claiming that their product is the best buy with the highest “quality” within its class. So when it comes to quality in the automobile industry whose job is it to uphold this promise – everyone’s right? Let’s take a look at the automobile manufacturing processes and the various jobs and responsibilities for quality beginning with the customer. Customer: As we learned in our background readings the customer is responsible for determining what they want and need thus influencing the demand on the market place. However, it shouldn’t stop there, once a customer purchases there new vehicle they should provide the manufacturer with both positive and negative feedback on the product. This allows the manufacturer to make the necessary adjustments needed to satisfy the consumer market...
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...Strategic Organizational Communication Strategic organizational communication is the process of infusing communication together with an agenda that includes promoting the company brand. ("What Is Strategic Communications?”, 2011) Case Study: “The Power of Rewards at Industry International” The case study “The Power of Rewards at Industry International” located in chapter three of Strategic Organizational Communication in a Global Economy describes a manufacturing company. The company has a rewards system used to compensate employees but that system is in jeopardy of being eliminated due to economic challenges. The case study describes the situation, the challenges the employees and the company face, and the methods the employees are considering to resolve the issue to their satisfaction. The Organizational Structure The organizational structure of the flow of information with a company can be either centralized or decentralized. Centralized information flow means all decision making and power is reserved to central points within the company. ("Centralization And Decentralization", 2013) In a centralized company information is often altered by the time it reaches the lower ranking employees. Decentralizing the information flow is the exact opposite of centralized. In a company that is decentralized information flow is distributed equally through the company resulting in faster decision making and less alterations. The organizational structure of Industry International...
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