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Austin Wood Products - Case Study

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Week 1 Case Study
Austin Wood Products

Week 1 Case Study – Austin Wood Products
Introduction
Austin Wood Products is a company based out of Austin, Texas, specializing in custom doors, frames, molding, and entry systems. The company currently employs 130 people, 120 of which are production employees. Their facility houses production, raw/component/finished inventory, administrative and corporate services, and their own local distribution operation. Being so highly immersed in the custom housing market of Austin and its many surrounding cities, much of the current production and material needs are based upon current trends in the housing and construction industry. This makes it more challenging to house an adequate stock of raw material, as production needs could potentially change faster than the company can anticipate. (Benton, Jr., 2014) Being able to meet customer desires with a fully customized product has always been the pride of Austin Wood Products. However, this presents many challenges for the company at an operational level, particularly in inventory and purchasing management. An estimated 87 percent of all purchases are raw lumber for production, yet there is no formal cycle count, material handling, or material resource planning procedure established within the company. Austin Wood Products conducts a physical inventory once a year, but it does not actively maintain accurate inventory records the rest of the year. According to Dave Pope, the Plant Manager, “there is a 50 percent chance of obtaining the needed lumber for a job.” (Benton, Jr., 2014, pg. 463) In many cases, employees take the required lumber for their current jobs without documenting any transaction for the move. Production is expected to increase by 20 percent within the next month, which means the current inventory issues will become increasingly

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