Introduction
No industry has faced more competitive markets in the U.S. than textiles. The import of foreign textiles made using cheap labor has decreased profit margins for U.S. companies for years, and many have left the industry. In this discussion you will get the opportunity to “run” production operations of a textile company in a simulation scenario. Don’t be afraid of this opportunity, rather you should embrace it.
This scenario illustrates the complexities typically associated with decision-making in a production department. The problems you will be faced with are complex, requiring the active involvement from multiple functional areas to fully understand the nature and scope of the problem, explore viable alternatives, commit to a solution, and then implement, monitor, and make necessary changes to achieve desired outcomes. As an operations professional, you’re responsible for executing due diligence when determining whether or not to support or put forward proposals and new ideas. These proposals can be as simple as modifying existing processes or as complex as expanding the company through “organic” or “inorganic” growth strategies. You need to be able to weigh decisions against existing realities while taking into consideration future uncertainties.
Unit Learning Outcomes Demonstrate the impact of operations management on the competiveness and productivity of an organization. (CLO 1 and 2)Construct a production strategy based on customer demand. (CLO 3 and 4)Synthesize operations and customer satisfaction data. (CLO 5 and 7)Calculate productivity metrics for an operational scenario using Microsoft Excel. (CLO 4)DirectionsAccessing McGraw-Hill Connect
Be sure that you have purchased and registered your McGraw-Hill Connect account prior to completing this assignment. See the Textbook and Materials page for more information.
To view the scenario listed below:
Click the "McGraw-Hill Connect" tab in the course navigation menu.Click the "Go to my Connect Section" link (2). This will open another window.
Click the "MH Practice launch the game" link (4).
For more information view the Practice Operations Student Manual.
Initial Posting
Students are to complete Module 1, The Production Process (Scenario) in Practice Operations. Based on their observations in this scenario, and upon a careful review of the available literature, the student is to consider him or herself to be the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Kibby and Strand, the company in the scenario.
The CEO has noticed fluctuations in production under the different shift production managers during the past 6 months. She wants you, the COO, to document the key factors a production manager needs to consider when scheduling production in the organization and to develop a training plan for production managers that emphasizes oversight of these factors.
Students are to create their plan based on knowledge learned in the Scenario, and post it in the discussion.
Instruction Guidance: It would be prudent to consider content covered in chapters 1 and 2 of the textbook; however, there are many other useful resources available on the Internet and in the literature to support the construction of your action plan.
This training plan should be prepared as a Microsoft™ Word document, and then attached to the unit discussion thread. There is no minimum or maximum in terms of the word count; however, the response should explicitly address all required components of this discussion assignment. The document should be prepared consistent with the APA writing style (6th edition) and reflect higher level cognitive processing (analysis, synthesis and or evaluation).