Cheryl L. Jones
MT435 Unit eight
Kaplan University
19 November 2012
Introduction
Question one
Challenge one: Material Purchasing, Albatross Anchor has small storage that are located away from the production area requiring smaller amounts of material to be order due to lack of storage. Increasing storage will allow for larger amount of raw materials to be kept on hand and reduce the cost associated with order multiple smaller batches of raw materials.
Challenge two: Inventory/Shipping: Shipping and receiving are sharing facilities due to one railroad spur being available. The company is having problems producing enough products for the customers. This lack of production cause large quantities of finished materials to be stored
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Complication one
Cost of Production: Current manufacturing costs are $8.00 per pound for mushroom/bell anchors and $11.00 per pound for snag hook anchors. Albatross Anchor charges the same per unit as their competitors. However, the profit margin can sometimes be as much as 35% less (on some of the anchors) because of operations inefficiencies. $8 per pound for mushroom/bell anchors $11 per pound on for snag hook anchor
Complication two Economies of Scale in material purchasing: The firm is not able to realize economies since they are not able to produce larger orders as easy. They are not able to meet capacity utilization within the plant due to operational inefficiencies. They can only produce small batches. Scale economies have brought down the unit costs of production and have fed through to lower prices for consumers. Economies of scale are a key advantage for a business that is able to grow. Most firms find that, as their production output increases, they can achieve lower costs per unit. Economies of scale are the cost advantages that a business can exploit by expanding their scale of production. The effect of economies of scale is to reduce the average (unit) costs of production.
Complication three
Cost of Raw Materials Sitting Idle in the Warehouse: The raw materials sit idle until they are ready to ship out which leads to large cost of holding raw material in inventory.
(c) Technology and automation
1.
Other scale economies can be Multi-Product ES (“Economies of Scope”); indeed, different types of cereals can be produced in a very similar way, not requiring different production facilities, but leveraging the existing ones. The same can also be applied to packaging/bagging, which is the main source of Economies of Scale, because the Big Three use the same
Economies of scale: Large companies can produce products at a much lower cost than small ones because the cost per unit drops as the volume of output rises
The impact of economies and diseconomies of scale Tesco face As businesses grow and their output increases, they commonly benefit from a reduction in average costs of production. Total costs will increase with increases in output, but the cost of producing each unit falls as output increases. This reduction in average costs is what gives larger firms a competitive advantage over smaller firms. This fall in average costs as output increases is known as Economies of Scale.
When a misquote is provided to a member, spicifically a Blue Choice member being advised that a PPO provider is a Blue Choice Provider instead of adjusting the claim to pay 100% of billed charges why can't the claim be adjusted to pay at the PPO contacted rate if the Provider has a PPO contract? This could save thousands of dollars.
When it comes to the flexibility of filling order Albatross only sells their anchors at wholesale price and it is mainly to companies and not the general consumer/public. Another factor to consider is the way the building is set up along with the limited amount of space that is available in the warehouse between each department. Many items depending on the size and quantity can take weeks in order to fill that particular order.
Economies of scale give Woolworths and Coles an advantage over smaller retailers because, as a result of their large scale production, they are able to produce at a lower average cost, allowing them to sell goods to consumers at a lower price. This competitive pricing eventually forces smaller firms out of the market, as they are unable to match the predatory pricing, due to a lack of economies of scale.
(b) Cost of Finished Goods Sitting Idle in the Warehouse: They are able to ship out finished products effectively.
Current manufacturing costs are $8.00 per pound for mushroom/bell anchors and $11.00 per pound for snag hook anchors. Albatross Anchor charges the same per unit as their competitors. However, the profit margin can sometimes be as much as 35% less (on some of the anchors) because of operations inefficiencies.
The core problem is about their management style in top level. With such a highly efficient production line plant, the company 's management is like a job-shop, the executives take charge of every small decision of almost everyone. This greatly weakens the possibility to expand, because the one or two top management are not available dealing with so many daily issues. In addition, due to the size and life-long
The company may have to pay higher production costs or may not be able to produce and
1. What parts of the supply chain are most closely involved with the situation in this case? What is the responsibility of each part in order to maintain a smooth flow of material?
Even without a more complete analysis of ProFish's supply chain, certain risks and potentials for breakdown in the transportation of the company's components can already be identified. First, the fact that the company relies on a Chinese manufacturer that in turn relies on a US-based provider of certain raw materials means that the company's supply chain is at risk when it comes to the transport of materials and goods throughout the world, regardless of the direction of travel, and this means it is more likely to be impacted by adverse weather, fuel shocks, and other globally and regionally disruptive forces (Golinska & Hajdul, 2012). There also appear to be relatively long loading, unloading, and unexplained hold times at various stops in the supply chain as identified in the above Value Stream Map, and while these do not in and of
Risks specific to assembling products in the Zaragoza & Istanbul, includes having all the finished good’s raw products being outsourced, leaving the assembly plant victim to many possible delivery delays, and having the assembly plant in a completely different location from headquarters and not being able to monitor all aspects of the supply chain as thoroughly.
* The company has to suffer economical loss due to its cyclic nature of production. The production does not run at full efficiency every time. This leads to the waste of energy, money and resources.
Increasing returns are the natural outcome of decreasing output costs and have external and internal factors which influence economies of scale (Ossa, n.d.). Economies of scale are influenced externally by industry size, rather than firm size and include