ASSIGNMENT: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

QUESTION 1 - CALCOMP: DISASTER BECOMES SUCCESS

Flash back to the early 1980's. The only thing world-class about Calcomp was the mess it was in. The company that practically invented the computer plotter - a device engineers and architects use to print intricate, oversized schematics - has become arrogant, inattentive and lazy. Every last plotter that rolled off the assembly line didn't work well enough without some rejiggering. A legion of field technicians was needed to make house calls on installed machines that malfunctioned every few weeks. Competitors, such as Hewlett Packard, jumped into the breach, stealing dissatisfied customers.

Flash forward to the 1990's Calcomp was recognised as a leader in world-class manufacturing. No more mass assembly lines. No more bugs. No more field technicians. The difference between the 1980's and 1990's was firstly the quality programme implemented by the President. Quality was seen as the satisfaction of customers, with gracefully built, innovative products that work from the start, rarely breakdown, are competitively priced and upgraded faster than any other competitors' products.

Secondly, in the early 1980's the manufacturing process was fractured. Product design and manufacturing design were not co-ordinated. The company stockpiled parts and only checked for defects after it was completely built. In the 1990's inventories were cut to the bare minimum and a preferred supplier programme was initiated. In this way the company managed its demand and reduced the wastage costs. Suppliers used the quality information to transform their businesses and attract new clients.

Thirdly, when a new product is conceived, a team of more than a dozen people representing virtually every department shepherd's it from development to delivery. With this kind of team work, engineers do not design parts that the factory workers cannot put together.

Readjusting attitudes to work was the most important part of the jump to quality. Today frontline workers are treated with as much respect as the executives. Assembly workers are never reprimanded to stop the assembly line if there was a quality problem. Production managers wear beepers and are expected to respond to problems immediately.

The senior vice-president of the plotter division stated the following "The product we build tomorrow will be better than the ones we build today".

(Modified and adapted - Michelle Vranizen - The Orange Country Register)

1.1: Discuss the five operations performance objectives and relate it to the case study. Make recommendations to improve the operations and motivate your answers.

1.2: "In the early 1980's the manufacturing process was fractured where product design and manufacturing design were not co-ordinated". Discuss the methods that Calcomp could have used to improve and evaluate product and service design.

1.3: "In the 1990's inventories were cut to the bare minimum and a preferred supplier programme was initiated". Discuss the JIT techniques and its influence on the supply chain management.

1.4: "Readjusting attitudes to work was the most important part of the jump to quality. Discuss the role of TQM to readjust attitudes of workers and management towards quality.

QUESTION 2 - A Network Diagram for a project is presented below:

2.1: Identify the Critical Path.

2.2: Calculate the Early Start; Late Start; Early Finish & Late Finish for all activities.

2.3: Compute the 'slack" time for each activity.

QUESTION 3 -

Gumede Construction is involved with the building of a 15 storey apartment complex. Tight schedules had been agreed to and the recent rains have created havoc with these delivery dates. Using the Time-Cost Tradeoff Method (Crashing), show how you would reduce this project by 5 weeks and what the cost penalty for such an exercise would be.

Word limit: Approximately 5000 words.