Case Study - Types of Layout
TIPL is a manufacturer in Ottawa, Ontario and specializes in sports memorabilia. Their specialty is to make 3-D images of past and present athletes used as promotional giveaways. TIPL started as a 2-perspon company owned and operated by Anthony and Rose, a married couple that met in art school. The couple started their business as a hobby doing their work in spare room on the main floor of their home. The business grew and they moved their operation to their 1200 sq. foot basement where space was sufficient for the 100 figures they would mold and paint on average each month for clients.
The process is quite simple and the couple's unique feature is their ability to capture the athlete they portraying in a very life-like way, more so then their competition. When an order is received, Rose reviews photos of the athlete. Using a 3-D photo sculpting machine, a rough sculpture is created out of plastic. Rose's sculpting techniques take over and the life-like features are added to figure. This is called a master from which molds are made. Anthony has created a process to multiply the molds quickly using a rubber that is recyclable. Once a job is finished, the master mold is kept and the rubber is recycled into new molds. Depending on the job size, Anthony will make 10 to 50 molds from the master.
Once the molds are produced, production can begin. Chemicals are mixed with resin and poured into the molds. The pouring occurs late in the day so that the product can cure over night. The next morning the figures are pulled from the molds. The figures are then painted which takes approximately two days with four local artisans who are either retired or work part time and like the extra income. Each figure is approximately six inches tall and 2 to 3 inches wide at its widest point. Once the figures are dry, a product label is affixed to its base. The label identifies the product as a hand crafted original from the artisans at TIPL and made in Canada. TIPL's office number is also on the base of the product.
Last week Rose answered the phone and Anthony watched her eyes get bigger and bigger as the conversation continued. A large marketing company in the US wants to make TIPL there sole provided or sports figurine memorabilia for several pro sports teams, college football teams, with expectations to grow into additional teams at the pro and college level. They would be licensed with all the major professional sports and college associations. Ultimately they would be expected to produce 2,000 figures per month with 20% growth each year likely to a maximum of 5,000 figures per month. The marketing company did not want to use an overseas manufacturer. They want a consistent high quality product that they feel they can have a close relationship with the company they work with. With the license, TIPL would be allowed to distribute and retail any excess products produced but only in Canada. All US sales would be to the marketing company that would act as a distributor selling to the sports retailers and directly to the teams.
Anthony and Rose hire you to design their new location. They would like their new location to be sufficiently large to manufacture the quantity of product they will grow to. They would also like sufficient space for distribution as well as space for a retail outlet as part of their building. They would like you to estimate the total size of space required and for you to draw the layouts for the different activities - manufacturing, distribution, and retail. In addition to hiring production workers, Rose and Anthony expect they will need to hire 5 office workers to handle the finance and administration activities of the organization.
Submit the layout for Rose and Anthony. You may use the drawing tools in WORD and / or Excel. Make sure that for each activity, there is a written description describing why your layout is right for that activity. Layout - 1 page. Description - 2 pages in total. Total pages submitted to Anthony and Rose = 3 pages.
A) Calculate the movement cost of the current layout?
B) Create a better layout and the new movement cost. The layout must be linear. What is the movement cost savings?