INTRODUCING A NEW APPLIANCE MODEL You have recently taken over as Division Manager of the portable TV Division of the

X Electronics Company. Several years earlier this ivision !as a lea ing contributor to company profits" no! it is losing money an can#t compete !ith other omestic companies or imports. $elo! is a simplifie version of the organi%ation chart of your ivision&

DIVISION MANAGER

Sales

Engineering

Production

Accounting

S ste!s

Co!"onents

C#assis

Industrial Enginee$ ring

Auto$ !ation

Production &loor

%ualit Control

Organi'ation C#art (or TV di)ision*

Your pre ecessor seeme to have goo accounting recor s' !hich enable him to kno! on a !eekly basis !hen any group e(cee e its bu gete e(penses. You also have available aily pro uction figures' !hich enable you to spot problems in any area. The !ork in your ivision encompasses the follo!ing activities& Sales eals !ith customers )!holesale appliance ealers* an provi es inputs to Engineering on !hat features )an !hat prices* are esirable from a marketing point of vie!" an pro uction' of course' manufactures the sets. +e! mo els are intro uce annually. This means that the systems group evelops the circuitry )the un erlying electrical engineering of the ne! set*. The components group converts these specifications an esign features into actual component an subsystem specifications )e.g.' transistors' tubes capacitors' etc.*. The Chassis group esigns the cabinetry an frame. ,n ustrial Engineering etermines the

specific pro uction techni-ues an proce ures that !ill be use . .utomation esigns an pro uces the e-uipment' !hich makes the printe circuits an assembles components )!ith the goal of limite human intervention*. ,n revie!ing past history' you note that the greatest problems seem to occur )an is not surprising* uring the intro uction of the ne! mo els. This past year !as the !orst. Sales note a ne! tren to!ar s bright' pastel coloure cabinetry. /hen the Chassis group !as consulte on changing its esign for the cabinet' it reporte that the type of plastics that coul be obtaine in the esire intense colours coul not be mol e !ith the appropriate tolerances to the si%e an shape cabinet that ha been agree to. More roun ing !oul be re-uire ' !hich !oul re-uire the Components people to relocate one of their subsystems. They' in turn' sai that this !oul have other impacts an they !ante a itional time to calculate these an assess their costs. .t the same time' 0ro uction !as pushing for final plans' saying that every ay#s elay meant that their final tooling an training !oul be off by an e(tra t!o !eeks. You foun a memo from Engineering saying that over the years 0ro uction ha steppe up their re-uirements for lea time )final plans to first mo els off the line* from t!o months to four months. 0ro uction#s response ha been that the promise simplifications in esign ha not materiali%e ' an that bu get cutting in various efficiency programs ha re uce the number of pro uction specialists they ha to gui e the !ork force in making a smooth transition from last year#s to this year#s mo el. .t the en a number of fruitless meetings !ere hel in !hich Sales' 0ro uction' an Engineering en eavore to resolve their ifferences. You foun several other memos !hich in icate that the systems group believe that the company#s pro uct !as eclining in -uality" its reputation as the best in the in ustry !as in 1eopar y" an that goo systems esign !as being sacrifice for !hat coul be easily manufacture . They note that the .utomation group !as harassing their esign engineers' seeking to get a look at the early plans to see !hat they !ere like an to persua e the engineers to make mo ifications that !oul allo! for greater use of automation' simpler printe circuitry' an more machine2controlle operations. This interfere !ith the esign !ork an complicate it nee lessly' note the Systems manager. ,n ustrial Engineering sai that there !ere a number of improve manufacturing techni-ues the company coul employ if the systems an components people !oul call on them before intro ucing ma1or ne! esign features. 3ften minor changes in the esign features !oul allo! for very ma1or manufacturing improvements. The Systems an Components group argue that ,n ustrial Engineering sought to ominate these iscussions' an that if they employe reasonable effort an ingenuity they coul fin !ays of converting reasonable plans into manufacturing proce ures. ,t is obvious that as Division Manager' your pre ecessor ha spent a great eal of time on the pro uction floor uring the early part of any ne! mo el year' an uring the

prece ing !eeks' trying to resolve bottlenecks an spee there !ere apparently a number of problems like these&

ecisions. During this time

,nspection sho!s a ba ly crimpe !ire likely to break uring shipping an pro uction. The Supervisor asks his boss to get the !ire shifte ' reinforce ' or change in some other !ay. 0ro uction hea calls Engineering office to see if esign can be change . .fter locating the man !ho originally specifie that subsystem in Components' ans!er goes back to 0ro uction that a change cannot be ma e. $y the time the ans!er gets back' a large number of sets are backe up !aiting for change or release. 0ro uction hea then re-uests that either -uality stan ar )for breakage* be lo!ere ' or that Division manager re-uire Components to change their specifications. .lso be re-uests that .ccounting mo ify its costing to take into account that Components elay in respon ing slo!s 0ro uction. ),t shoul be note that one of the reasons for an almost automatic re1ection of 0ro uction#s re-uests for Component changes is that engineers have alrea y been reassigne to ne! pro1ects' an that re esign !oul hurt the component#s e(pense bu get*. .nother observation you make is that the hea of .utomation is a very forceful personality !ho manage to influence the !ork of Systems by getting your pre ecessor to agree that certain aspects of the circuitry !oul be checke out !ith .utomation before being finali%e as part of the Division#s efforts to re uce manufacturing costs. /henever a problem arose the .utomation group spoke !ith a clear' single voice. The hea of the Systems' on the other han ' !as a rather mil 2mannere ' theoretically oriente engineer. 5e rarely spoke in the name of his group" but ans!ere each charge or re-uest in a very logical' systematic !ay. 3ver the past several years the company ha lost a goo many of its more ambitious circuit esigners' an you !on ere !hat !as cause an !hat !as effect. .nother problem revolve aroun the pro uction metho s an stan ar s set by ,n ustrial Engineering. /hen these seeme too tight to the pro uction !orkers' the foremen often agree !ith their men. ,n ustrial Engineering !oul en eavour to get them accepte ' noting that there !as a learning curve an !hat seeme impossible at first' uring the ne! mo el run' !oul seem easy after a fe! !eeks. .t times the !orkers !oul intro uce 6simplifications7 in the 1ob to meet the stan ar ' an !hen these cause -uality problems at inspection time' it !as not clear !here the problem originate from incorrect or ambiguous specifications by the ,n ustrial Engineers' or the changes intro uce by the !orkers or their foremen. /hen 8uality Control sought to have the problem investigate an the line stoppe ' the Sales group put pressure on 0ro uction to ignore this if ealer stocks ha not yet been fille . .t such times pro uct !oul argue that the company !as ominate by a 6sell no! an on#t !orry about the pro uct later7 point of vie!' even though the company#s market position ha been attaine through a combination of -uality an technical pioneering. Sales reporte that competition became keener each year' an that the en goal of the company !as sales an not "roduction*