Thicketwood Case Summary
executive summary
Amid the excitement of future growth for Thicketwood LTD, decision-makers face increasing pressure to keep up with product demand of their high-end cabinetry line. As the organization evaluates the various options to help enable that growth and streamline the manufacturing process, the company must understand the short- and long-term implications of the investment options.
Currently, Thicketwood produces 1250 cabinets per year, however the surge in demand for their products has been forecasted to exceed 2000. To meet the challenge, Thicketwood has the option of buying a new computer number controlled (CNC) router or alternatively, a used one. There will also be the option of relocation of employees on the assembly line to other tasks involving the assembly of cabinets, or dismissal of employees. The recommendation is a combination of a new computer number controlled router and relocation of 2 employees from routing to the drilling and assembling lines, allows for increased production capacity.
Thicketwood Finds Opportunity to Evolve Operations through Investment
Thicketwood Ltd sells custom-manufactured kitchen cabinets to high-income families in Ontario. Because each cabinet is hand-crafted and custom-made, customer’s in this segment demand high-quality cabinets especially given the price point ($5-10,000 per cabinet). Though it takes 15 skilled laborers to maintain the current supply levels of 1250 cabinets, Mark Taylor, operations manager at Thicketwood, believes there’s an opportunity to help meet forecasted demand of 2000 units while lowering internal costs and streamlining the operations through an investment in a computer number controlled (CNC) router.
While a CNC router can help with output, streamlining the operations also involves understanding the state of operations. Thicketwood’s manufacturing operations are defined as line flow where each step of the process is isolated into separate tasks for employees to
Amid the excitement of future growth for Thicketwood LTD, decision-makers face increasing pressure to keep up with product demand of their high-end cabinetry line. As the organization evaluates the various options to help enable that growth and streamline the manufacturing process, the company must understand the short- and long-term implications of the investment options.
Currently, Thicketwood produces 1250 cabinets per year, however the surge in demand for their products has been forecasted to exceed 2000. To meet the challenge, Thicketwood has the option of buying a new computer number controlled (CNC) router or alternatively, a used one. There will also be the option of relocation of employees on the assembly line to other tasks involving the assembly of cabinets, or dismissal of employees. The recommendation is a combination of a new computer number controlled router and relocation of 2 employees from routing to the drilling and assembling lines, allows for increased production capacity.
Thicketwood Finds Opportunity to Evolve Operations through Investment
Thicketwood Ltd sells custom-manufactured kitchen cabinets to high-income families in Ontario. Because each cabinet is hand-crafted and custom-made, customer’s in this segment demand high-quality cabinets especially given the price point ($5-10,000 per cabinet). Though it takes 15 skilled laborers to maintain the current supply levels of 1250 cabinets, Mark Taylor, operations manager at Thicketwood, believes there’s an opportunity to help meet forecasted demand of 2000 units while lowering internal costs and streamlining the operations through an investment in a computer number controlled (CNC) router.
While a CNC router can help with output, streamlining the operations also involves understanding the state of operations. Thicketwood’s manufacturing operations are defined as line flow where each step of the process is isolated into separate tasks for employees to