Terpend Corporation:

Steve Rothel was purchasing manager for the mid-west division of the Terpend Corporation.  Shortly before his company was to install an exhaust system in a latest construction project, Steve was asked to compare fabricating the pipe with purchasing the pipe from an outside source.

Terpend Corporation, a mechanical and sheet metal contract, was founded over 50 years ago. Though it had a number of branches in North America, the majority of its metal fabrication work was performed in its Midwest facility. The company mission stressed quality workmanship, competitive pricing and timely performance.

A LABORATORY EXHAUST SYSTEM:

Terpend recently was awarded the bid to give the HVAC system in the corporate headquarters building that housed a research laboratory. This was a complicated project with numerous nonstandard features due to the specialized use of the building.

The system comprised a need for over 6500 feet of 10-inch diameter, 16-gauge stainless steel pipe. This piping would be employed for venting the laboratory exhaust. When the cost estimation department at Terpend made the original bid, they had planned to fabricate this pipe at their Midwest facility.

A REQUEST FOR COST REDUCTION:

Since the project got underway, the VP of Operations asked Steve Rothel “if it would be possible to give the stainless steel pipe at a lower cost than the original estimate.”  Steve knew, of course, that any reduction in cost should not come at a sacrifice of quality. As of toxins which would be present in the laboratory exhaust, it was critical that his system be absolutely leak proof.  Every pipe run would be individually tested to assure integrity. If leaks were uncovered in the welds, it would need a time-consuming effort to reweld the joints on-site.

Steve realized that there were two approaches to providing the pipe. Terpend could continue as planned and fabricate the pipe in-house, by using the lowest-cost, acceptable quality steel available on the market.

The second possibility would be to find out a supplier who could give the pipe already formed at a better cost.

THE PURCHASE OPTION:

Steve first explored the purchase option. He did a thorough search of market, and found out that most suppliers were asking from 23 to 28 dollars per linear foot (delivered) for 10-inch-diameter, 16-gauge stainless steel pipe. He was pleasantly surprised, though, to find out a supplier who would give the pipe for $18.10 per linear foot. These suppliers given the pipe in 20-foot sections and guaranteed the pipe to be sound (no leaks). Additionally, their pipe was “perfectly” true (round), a trait that Terpend’s current equipment could not always provide. This aspect would decrease the time required to make connections between sections of pipe and decrease the likelihood of bad weld joints.

Though this option sounded very attractive, Steve, a veteran in the purchasing area with 14 years of experience, knew he would have to subject his options to a thorough analysis to make sure a wise decision.

THE MAKE OPTION:

Steve had access to the data essential for manufacturing cost estimating. He knew that the process of making pipe needed two steps. First, a flat sheet of steel is formed into a cylinder through the process of “rolling.” Then the seam is joined in a welding process. For a 10-inch-diameter pipe of 16-gauge steel, it takes around six minutes per piece to roll, comprising loading and unloading the part. The equipment Terpend had available for this procedure could roll lengths up to eight feet. The welding process was estimated to take ten minutes for an eight-foot section. The figure the company employed for cost estimating purposes for hourly labor rate was $32.60 per hour. An overhead charge of 40 percent was added to the variable costs.

Stainless steel sheets were available in 36-inch, 48-inch and 60-inch widths at any length up to 10 feet, with the best price being $1.80 per pound. A square foot of 16-gauge steel weighs two and one-half pounds. The welding process needed welding wire and welding gas. Welding wire cost around $5.20 per pound and .03 pounds were required per foot of weld. Welding gas cost around 25 cents per eight-foot seam.

Many of the lengths of pipe required in the project were longer than eight feet. Therefore, Steve thought it essential to comprise the cost of an extra joint (which, for illustration, would make two eight-foot lengths into one sixteen-foot length) in the “make in-house” alternative. Such a joint required welding around the diameter of the pipe, a process that, with setup, would take around 18 minutes per joint.

THE DECISION?

Steve wondered which option would be best. Should Steve recommend purchasing the pipe or making it?

General Instructions:

A) prepare a 2-paged maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font memorandum outlining your recommendation. All computations must be comprised in the appendix, and also assumptions that you make.

B) Bullet form responses are acceptable as long as your thoughts are complete and, again, ensure that your assignment is of high quality – that is, free of spelling and grammatical errors.

Grading:

1) Computational logic:

• Have you made your assumptions explicit?
• Are your assumptions essential to give a numerical solution to the problems asked?
• Are your suppositions practical and feasible?
• Are your numerical answers reliable with the suppositions which you have made?

2) Norms of standard business writing:

• Is the memorandum written in the standard memorandum format?
• Is there excessive non-business, colloquial or slang usage?
• Are the tables and/or graphs helpful and properly referenced?

3) Comprehensiveness of Critical Thinking:

• Does the recommendation describe an understanding of the implications across various decisions within operations and supply management?

• Does the recommendation describe an understanding of the implications across functional regions or organizations?