Macpherson Refrigeration Limited
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The role of the responder
Linda Metzler the production planning manager is the main responder in this case, she has to come up with another optimal alternative that will have to be submitted to the plant’s General Manager. The plan has to be approved by the general manager for roll out starting next year.
Key Issues
In order to achieve excellent production capacity and reducing the overall costs the production manager has to find an optimal structure of aggregate planning which will help achieving qualitative and quantitative aspects of the organization.
There is an issue which covers the trade union led labour force and laying off might be an offspring to many other issues. It is important to find the most feasible solution to satisfy the organizational as well as the individual goals. The limited amount of skilled labour available in the market to do this function also adds up to the issues list and not to forget the cost involved in training new employees
The main problems include the responsiveness to demand that is to have enough safety stock in case of sudden increase in demand, using as less overtime as possible to reduce fatigue caused due to over working and last but not the least having quality products to meet customer demands
Analysis
Responsiveness to demand and employee participation:
It is understood that MRL has to develop a plan that considers the time within which they can respond to peak demand. It is important to have enough workforce to meet the peak demand. It was also important to meet the regular flow of demand every month. It is also important to meet the expectations of the employees without laying off and employing them to do too much overtime.
The strategies and the plans adopted have led to higher costs in certain cases with regards to holding inventory, hiring and firing which will induce lower morale among employees and