Fhe Case Study
FHE, Inc.
Synopsis and Purpose
FHE manufactures pumps used by the automotive and appliance industries. They also manufacture fluid handling equipment used to transfer liquids from paint to food supplies. During 2005 their profits after tax were $5,470,000 after having sales of $105,200,000. Even though FHE’s sales and profits are improving, Lum Donaldson, product development engineering manager, believes there are problems in coordinating the technical program managers and product managers. He has concerns that the division of responsibilities is not clear and the fluctuating workload in the engineering services is off balance.
Discussion Questions
1) What steps should Donaldson take to improve the new-product development process at FHE?
2) What could be done to clarify the organizational relationship between product managers, technical program managers, and manufacturing managers?
3) What can be done to better manage the workload of the engineering services department?
4) Evaluate the plans and the expected results from the new CAD-CAM system.
Analysis
Question 1 What steps should Donaldson take to improve the new-product development process at FHE?
Restructuring
Phil Thomas, vice president of corporate development and marketing is currently responsible for both areas of marketing and design engineering. His responsibilities need to be split and another manger put in charge of either marketing or design engineering. This way there can be clear direction designed for the coordination of successful introduction of new products. Because of the amount of coordination and planning for the production of new products, Donaldson should be in charge of the planning and engineering. His duties would include the planning and coordination of the product managers and the technical program managers. Distributing responsibilities in this matter will lead to better coordination and planning without one person fielding several questions and some
Synopsis and Purpose
FHE manufactures pumps used by the automotive and appliance industries. They also manufacture fluid handling equipment used to transfer liquids from paint to food supplies. During 2005 their profits after tax were $5,470,000 after having sales of $105,200,000. Even though FHE’s sales and profits are improving, Lum Donaldson, product development engineering manager, believes there are problems in coordinating the technical program managers and product managers. He has concerns that the division of responsibilities is not clear and the fluctuating workload in the engineering services is off balance.
Discussion Questions
1) What steps should Donaldson take to improve the new-product development process at FHE?
2) What could be done to clarify the organizational relationship between product managers, technical program managers, and manufacturing managers?
3) What can be done to better manage the workload of the engineering services department?
4) Evaluate the plans and the expected results from the new CAD-CAM system.
Analysis
Question 1 What steps should Donaldson take to improve the new-product development process at FHE?
Restructuring
Phil Thomas, vice president of corporate development and marketing is currently responsible for both areas of marketing and design engineering. His responsibilities need to be split and another manger put in charge of either marketing or design engineering. This way there can be clear direction designed for the coordination of successful introduction of new products. Because of the amount of coordination and planning for the production of new products, Donaldson should be in charge of the planning and engineering. His duties would include the planning and coordination of the product managers and the technical program managers. Distributing responsibilities in this matter will lead to better coordination and planning without one person fielding several questions and some