Cameron Balloons
Cameron Balloons is the world 's largest manufacturer of hot-air balloons. (http://www.cameronballoons.co.uk)
On average, their factory in the United Kingdom builds one balloon a day but together with their United States factory the company produces on average more than one balloon per day, everyday of the year. And in 1996 the company turnover was almost £7,000,000. (http://www.bized.co.uk)
From the operations manager 's point of view, inventories are a tool which provide efficient operation of the production facilities. There are no specific level of inventories which are more desirable as they are allowed to fluctuate so that production can be adjusted to its most efficient level. (Meredith & Shafer. 2007)
Effective inventory management is important to the operations department which holds the responsibility to control the firm 's inventories. And this control of inventories must be through the value chain which includes the suppliers, the company, distribution centers and the customers.
A lack in inventory information can cause major issues for the company such as an excess in stock. Companies with large inventories such as Cameron Balloons may still run out of materials because they may have too much of one particular material and not enough of others. However, there are certainly benefits gained from improved inventory management but there also must be constant experimenting to reduce inventory investment. (Krajewski, Ritzman et al. 2007)
There are many reasons as to why Cameron Balloons are holding one and a quarter million pounds worth of stock but in general, they support the five operations performance objectives of quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost. However, there are negative effects of holding inventory and so it is vital for Cameron Balloons to tightly control or even limit the amount of inventory held. (Slack & Chambers. 2004)
By purchasing materials for storage, Cameron Balloons are therefore ensured that they have
On average, their factory in the United Kingdom builds one balloon a day but together with their United States factory the company produces on average more than one balloon per day, everyday of the year. And in 1996 the company turnover was almost £7,000,000. (http://www.bized.co.uk)
From the operations manager 's point of view, inventories are a tool which provide efficient operation of the production facilities. There are no specific level of inventories which are more desirable as they are allowed to fluctuate so that production can be adjusted to its most efficient level. (Meredith & Shafer. 2007)
Effective inventory management is important to the operations department which holds the responsibility to control the firm 's inventories. And this control of inventories must be through the value chain which includes the suppliers, the company, distribution centers and the customers.
A lack in inventory information can cause major issues for the company such as an excess in stock. Companies with large inventories such as Cameron Balloons may still run out of materials because they may have too much of one particular material and not enough of others. However, there are certainly benefits gained from improved inventory management but there also must be constant experimenting to reduce inventory investment. (Krajewski, Ritzman et al. 2007)
There are many reasons as to why Cameron Balloons are holding one and a quarter million pounds worth of stock but in general, they support the five operations performance objectives of quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost. However, there are negative effects of holding inventory and so it is vital for Cameron Balloons to tightly control or even limit the amount of inventory held. (Slack & Chambers. 2004)
By purchasing materials for storage, Cameron Balloons are therefore ensured that they have
References: Berry, A., Jarvis, R. (1997), Accounting In A Business Context (3rd edition), London. Slack, N., Chambers, S., Johnston, R. (2004), Operations Management (4th edition), England. Meredith, R.J., Shafer, M.S. (2007), Operations Management for MBAs (3rd edition), United States of America. Brown, S., Blackman, K., Cousins, P., Maylor, H. (2001), Operations Management: Policy, Practice and Performance Improvement, Italy. Krajewski, J.L., Ritzman, P.L., Malhotra, K.M. (2007), Operations Management: Processes and Value Chains, New Jersey. Bized. (2007), "The Cameron Balloons Virtual Factory", http://www.bized.co.uk/virtual/cb/welcome.htm [accessed 18 Nov 2007]. Cameron Balloons. (2007), "Welcome to Cameron Balloons", http://www.cameronballoons.co.uk [accessed 20 Nov 2007]. Appendices Current ratio = Current assets Current Liabilities