Case -A: Establishing Plans

Mailing Place is a full-service direct-mail company with many clients in the home services industry Companies such as the Rug Doctor, House Maids, and Handyman Inc., use the Mailing Place to send out targeted direct-mail pieces to homes that typically use these types of services. Jill Akers started with the Mailing Place when she was a college student and in four years has progressed to the position of evening supervisor. Her responsibilities include assembling the materials for an order; planning for labor to fold, stuff, and run the PCs used to produce labels; and ensuring that orders have the proper postage. There are four full-time workers in her area, and some large orders will require as many as ten temporary position The Mailing Place is paid based on the number of pieces mailed and receives a sizable bonus when their customers acquire new business.

Jill Jill's boss has come to her and asked for her assistance with a new line of work for the company. The new work is to produce personalized mailings for mortgage and banking companies in support of their call center operations. The new clients will give the Mailing Place a listing of the contacts made in a day. The Mailing Place will assemble materials to be mailed within twenty-four hours. Jill's boss thinks the night shift should handle this work to ensure the type of rapid fulfillment the banks are requiring. Jill is supposed to come up with a plan to incorporate this work into her area

The night shift at the Mailing Place is currently working from 5 P.M. to 4 A.M., four days a week. Each employee needs about one week of on-the-job training to become efficient on all the machines and the PC programs. The labor cost is the major component of the Mailing Place's expenses, and controlling labor is a key to its success. The new line of work will start in about a month, and after three months, the new volume is expected to be equal to their present level of work. Jill’s boss is hopeful that with the increased volume the operations will become more productive.

RESPONDING TO THE CASE

1. List and describe the planning elements that Jill needs to consider in preparing for this new line of work.

2. Describe two options for handling the staffing levels for this new line of work. What issues and complications are likely to surface with the new amount of work for Jill's department?

3. How would you suggest using schedules and budgets in the planning process for the Mailing Place?