Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi
Case Analysis
Presented to
Professor Dr. Ranjan Ghosh
Strategic Operation Management
Submitted By
Bharat Bhushan (PGEXP/019/2013)
Prasanta Kumar Pattnaik (PGPEXP/057/2013)
Rajesh Dhiman (PGEXP/063/2013)
Post-Graduate Executive Programme in Management
PGEXP (2013-15 Batch)
Applichem
Introduction
Applichem is a manufacturer of speciality chemicals, one of its unique products being Release- ease. The company has 6 manufacturing plants: 3 in North America (Gary, Canada and Mexico), 1 in Western Europe (Frankfurt), 1 in Latin America (Venezuela) and 1 in Pacific and Rest of the world (Sunchem). Each of these plants has unique characteristics of number of product lines manufactured, number of packaging varieties, capacities of plants, plant redesigns and regional laws. Due to these differences, the overall performances of the plants differ in terms of average yield of raw material and profitability.
In this report we have analysed the effects of these differences between the plants and we recommend a model that Applichem can use to minimise its total costs. Figure 1: Current Production status in Plants Market
Designed
1982
Idle
Yield
Last update in
capacity
Production
capacity Equipment
Gary
North America
18.5
14
4.5
94.7%
1964
Canada
3.7
2.6
1.1
91.1%
1955
Mexico
22
17.2
4.8
91.7%
1978
Frankfurt
Western Europe
47
38
9
98.9%
1974
Venezuela
Latin America
4.5
4.1
0.4
90.4%
1964
Sunchem
Pacific and ROW
5
4
1
98.8%
1969
Process Flow
The figure below illustrates the process flow followed by Applichem for manufacturing Release- ease.
Figure 2: Process flow for Production of Release-Ease
Case Analysis
As per the case facts, we have listed the following factors affecting the performance of the manufacturing plants:
Laws in Japan which increase the number of employees on the plant
Worker productivity potential which can be