Read the case study below “Harvey Industries”. Provide reasoning for the current financial distress of the company and make recommendations for improvements to the new company president. Include at least one specific recommendation for both Supply Chain Management (chapter 15) and Inventory Management (chapter 13), as well as any other recommendations you deem necessary from your reading. Provide your recommendations in a 2-4 page APA style paper.
Harvey Industries
Background
Harvey Industries, a Wisconsin company, specializes in the assembly of high-pressure washer systems and in the sale of repair parts for these systems. The products range from small portable high-pressure washers to large industrial installations for snow removal from vehicles stored outdoors during the winter months. Typical uses for high-pressure water cleaning include:
Automobiles Airplanes
Building maintenance Barns
Engines Ice cream plants
Lift trucks Machinery
Swimming pools
Industrial customers include General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Delta Airlines, United Parcel Service, and Shell Oil Company.
Although the industrial applications are a significant part of its sale, Harvey Industries is primarily an assembler of equipment for coin operated self-service car wash systems. The typical car wash is of concrete block construction with an equipment room in the center, flanked on either side by a number of bays. The cars are driven into the bays where the owner can wash and wax the car, utilizing high-pressure hot water and liquid wax. A dollar bill changer is available to provide change for the use of the equipment and the purchase of various products from dispensers. The products include towels, tire cleaner, and upholstery cleaner.
In recent years Harvey Industries has been in financial difficulty. The company has lost money for three of the last four years, with the last year’s loss being $17,174 on sales of $1,238,674. Inventory levels have been steadily
References: Stevenson, W.J. (2011). Operations management (11th Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill/Irwin