Operations Management Essay Example for Free

Operations Management Essay The case at hand is hinged on the efficiency of operations in the different facilities of Canbide Corporation. With all the pressing problems, the system of operations in the company needed to be re-designed to answer the problems in every area that needs attention. The four concerns of Mr. Iwani, which are: 1. There is a need to put up a distribution facility in the Pacific Northwest; 2. There are quality problems at a facility in Nebraska; 3.  Customer Service problems; 4. There are inventories / materials handling problem at Newark facility, could actually be consolidated as problems of Aggregate Planning. In the case of Pacific Northwest, which locates the plant S facility, where inventory problems and shipping concerns abound, the root causes of which is the not so good facility location planning. The expansion of the company was not able to be considered over the initial planning stage. Hence, some strategic solutions would be available for each of the facilities which could be centrally based on the Japanese’s â€Å"Just-In-Time (JIT) system which uses the Kanban and Lean Management System† First, on the Denver Facility, the production queuing model should be revised as to the process whether one â€Å"Work-In-Process flow†. When a customer had to pick up a product, it should be centrally ordered on one building alone and have to wait on a lounge until the orders are ready to be picked up on a central loading plant. The products are thus carried over to the central loading station for customers. This will eventually solve the problem of traffic inside the facility. Parking should be organized to be able to serve the first customers first. Further solutions would include the proper â€Å"facility lay-outing of future building plans† Secondly, on the Problem in the Oregon facility, the production process should be already automated since the increasing demands require such facility. In this way, using the Kanban system of the Japanese Toyota system or the Just-In-Time system which forge strong linkage over its suppliers and order system is placed in attention when inventory is kept at low. With this system, the storage facility could be converted into production facility because stocking of materials needed would be minimized or even eliminated through the use of the system. Also, this system will be beneficial to the firm because it would drive down the cost of materials especially in the value loss of inventorying at its warehouses. Problems on shipping inventories would also be minimized. Thirdly, on the issue on the Copier Rehab Facility near Charleston, the management should focus its attention on Knowledge Management and Information System. This would require an in-depth analysis on the problems of the copiers being brought in for repair and the time spent and behavior analysis of every customer. If this would be done, then the management would be able to note the materials needed to be inventoried in the rehabilitation center. The turnaround rate of seven days would even be minimized, and not just targeted. The Materials Requirement Planning would thus be needed by the company to cope up with the demands of the products to be repaired. In summary, the Oregon facility problems could thus be solve through re-structuring with the inception of the JIT system in each plant and revising the process workflow to ensure on time production and ensure the quality of the products made. Warehousing costs would also be minimized if not totally eliminated with the Kanban System, which is also hinged on the Just-In-Time system of the Toyota Company in Japan.