Riordan

Process Design for Riordan Manufacturing Riordan Manufacturing must continue to satisfy their customers with innovative ideas currently and in the future. They need to continue to produce a quality product and implement streamlined manufacturing processes. Riordan Manufacturing needs to invest in upgrading systems processes. Entailed is a Material Requirements Planning (MRP) for the manufacturing of the Riordan fans, a new process design for the production, a supply chain which takes advantage of global opportunities; such as lower labor cost. Further discussion will include a production forecast, an implementation plan; including Gantt chart of design process, and a cover letter detailing how to coordinate aggregate operations planning and TQM. Material Requirements Planning (MRP) Presently, the processing portion of Riordan Manufacturing is based in the plant located in China. The receiving units implement Material Requirement Planning (MRP) to adhere to the material requirements; which receives, combines and processes materials prior to going to the molding unit. Next, the assembly unit receives the products and forwards it to the appropriate packing unit. Lastly, the product is shipped to its destination. Riordan Manufacturing, in an effort to reduce production costs, has become concerned with scrap materials in the respective units. Salt is used to reduce the level of waste in manufacturing from every production unit. This will lower production cost and boost profit for each unit produced. One initiative already commenced is the Hangzhou plant’s utilization of extra parts within its products that are customized. In order to make the process more effective and precise, the MRP process should be automated throughout the manufacturing process. This would minimize overstock, ensure the reception of custom parts, and minimize lag time in material shipping and receiving by creating a Just-in-Time (JIT) supply chain atmosphere. In this atmosphere the automated MRP application and those that manage it would take variables such as economic order quantity (EOQ), least total cost (LTC), and least unit cost (LUC) in to account and measure them systemically to produce a regulated and harmonious supply and demand manufacturing chain for the electric fan production division. New Process Design Currently Riordan’s production operations are universal throughout all the plants. The shipping, receiving and inventory of materials maintenance are all manual. Quality control for the shipping, receiving of the raw materials, and inventory control can be better maintained through an automotive bar code scanning system. Converting to an automated system will eliminate the bottlenecks that naturally develop with manual input. Raw materials will be bundled in quantities of ten or 20. Upon receipt the shipping supervisor will scan the bundles which will automatically update the inventory database as inventory received. The manager will then ensure that the number of bundles scanned match those received. The inventory clerk will continue to receive the shipping receipts for the confirmation of data updated in the computer and manual shipping records. When an order is received, the inventory clerk will use a scanner to update the database system and release the requested inventory to production. The clerk will continue to receive a list of sub-assemblies, which will also be scanned, from the manufacturing team to ensure that all inventory released is either completely assembled or in the process. The new design will provide sales staff with the availability of completely manufactured items, styles and colors, and the assembly status of a custom made order. Upon the completion of the order, the shipping staff will scan items which will record the date, time delivery location and tracking number. This final scan will automatically bill the customer’s credit card and issue an automated order shipment email. Riordan will be able to implement the automated system using cost reduction processes implemented throughout the entire company. The automated system will eliminate the bottleneck effects their current process causes. In turn, this will expedite the inventory, production, and shipment processes saving additional cost. Supply Chain Implementing changes to the Riordan’s supply chain will improve the process, minimize financial losses, and minimize late deliveries. Riordan should execute Vendor Machine Inventory (VMI). The system will minimize the bullwhip effect. It offers many benefits to the plants. The system will reduce the amount of inventory in the supply chain. The reduction benefits the company’s financials by reducing inventory turnover and will provide the plants the ability to have readily available, current inventory communication. Acquiring the VMI system will aid with excessive stocking of inventory by placing priority on specific parts. Additionally, specialized parts at the Albany plant should be standardized to reduce the cost of products by purchasing in bulk. Implementing the VMI will prove beneficial to Riordan. The time line for capacity planning to implement the VMI system is “immediate range” (Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano, 2006, p. 431). To ensure a smooth transition into the new system it is imperative that the system is simulated many times before the system is put in place. The VMI system plays a vital role in determining the flexibility of the supply chain. The flexibility is significant because it determines the plant’s ability to increase or decrease the level of production. Forecasting and calculations of the equipment and labor requirements are necessary to adequately determine the capacity of the plants. Production Forecast Production cycle time, cost, and marketing is attributes that should be addressed when forecasting. Recovery planning also should be addressed. Executing the recovery plan will allow the necessary employees to be adequately trained to handle multiple situations. Riordan should conduct a quick survey to customers to view perspectives and obtain the views as to what customers feel that Riordan can improve on. Riordan also made mention of ‘going green’ and so new processes that are implemented should take that desire into account. Implementing and evaluating systems in operations can positively effect cycle time. By implementing a new or improved service delivery system the customer will gain a positive experience from Riordan, heightening their experience. By focusing on effective marketing the company can make promises to the customers that will lure the customers to Riordan’s electric fans. The marketing strategies can include promotions that can raise customer’s expectations. These expectations will enlighten or alter the perspective of the customers. Additionally, the marketing department should ensure that they are reaching the greatest population possible. Riordan will potentially gain more sales by reaching a greater population. Implementation Plan A project for the lean production is beneficial to Riordan Manufacturing and the operations plan can be implemented in different phases. The first step for the organization is to design and define the roles and responsibilities of the team members. Second step should be to draw up a draft implementation plan and describe what methods and tools should be used. The final step should test the plan, assess progress, and make decisions. It is essential that the project plan has the resources and activities consistent with the time to reach a minimum level of resources that progress will be evaluated at regular intervals (Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano, 2006). The project team, as well as involvement from management, should incorporate phases which include choice of methods, software tools, and applications of MRP (Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano, 2006). Also, the phase should include the identification of bottlenecks in process to determine forecast and production plan to meet the needs of the consumers. Product quality improvement, zero defects, and the reduction of the bottlenecks should improve costs. Additionally, progress should be measured periodically for adjustment.