Chad's Creative Concepts Case Study
Chad’s Creative Concepts Case Study
1. What types of decisions must Chad Thomas make daily for his company’s operations to run effectively? Over the long run?
Chad Thomas needs to make sure daily manufacturing schedules are aligned with the current orders. The fact that the same set of employees and the same set of tools are being used to manufacture both the custom and the standard pieces of furniture is definitely problematic. In order to meet the demands of each product, it is critical that scheduling be created in the most efficient of manners given the current constraints. Allocating all the resources properly is a key along with scheduling and layout. In regards to long term decisions, Mr. Thomas is going to have to decide if he is going to stay with the same facility, equipment, employees and so on. Without making more drastic changes such as seeking to separate the current company into two separate divisions consisting of custom furniture and standard furniture, Chad Thomas may want to ensure the factory layout is as efficient as possible. Mr. Thomas needs to figure out what competitive priorities he wants to most address because currently he has two priorities with potentially two distinctly different answers. Having a highly customized product manufactured requires a more hands on involved approach which focuses less on quantity. The standard furniture is requiring less variety in the product but more volume output at a lower price. With the success of both of these lines of furniture, the company has turned a profit but has reached a point where growth is a significant issue because they are at capacity, lead times are increasing, and the cost of inventory is skyrocketing.
2. How did sales and marketing affect operations when they began to sell standard pieces of retail outlets?
By promoting the standard furniture, sales and marketing attempted to and somewhat successfully introduced Chad’s Creative Concepts to a larger consumer
1. What types of decisions must Chad Thomas make daily for his company’s operations to run effectively? Over the long run?
Chad Thomas needs to make sure daily manufacturing schedules are aligned with the current orders. The fact that the same set of employees and the same set of tools are being used to manufacture both the custom and the standard pieces of furniture is definitely problematic. In order to meet the demands of each product, it is critical that scheduling be created in the most efficient of manners given the current constraints. Allocating all the resources properly is a key along with scheduling and layout. In regards to long term decisions, Mr. Thomas is going to have to decide if he is going to stay with the same facility, equipment, employees and so on. Without making more drastic changes such as seeking to separate the current company into two separate divisions consisting of custom furniture and standard furniture, Chad Thomas may want to ensure the factory layout is as efficient as possible. Mr. Thomas needs to figure out what competitive priorities he wants to most address because currently he has two priorities with potentially two distinctly different answers. Having a highly customized product manufactured requires a more hands on involved approach which focuses less on quantity. The standard furniture is requiring less variety in the product but more volume output at a lower price. With the success of both of these lines of furniture, the company has turned a profit but has reached a point where growth is a significant issue because they are at capacity, lead times are increasing, and the cost of inventory is skyrocketing.
2. How did sales and marketing affect operations when they began to sell standard pieces of retail outlets?
By promoting the standard furniture, sales and marketing attempted to and somewhat successfully introduced Chad’s Creative Concepts to a larger consumer