Group Roster

MGT314 Section 12
Instructor: Yurika Uematso Bhuiyan

Group name: Dropouts

1. Name: Syed Aquib Abbas (Project Manager)

ID: 1611114030
Email: akebabbas95@gmail.com

2. Name: Tanvir Ahmed

ID: 1610771030
Email: tanvirahmed52@gmail.com

3. Name: Shazida Islam Disha

ID: 1620547030
Email: sazidadd@gmail.com

4. Name: A.K. Momin Uddin Ahamed

ID: 1610382030
Email: ianik2736@gmail.com

5. Name: Md Asif Azad Noman

ID: 1722214630
Email: asif.noman@northsouth.edu

6. Name: Saqlain Hossain Chowdhury

ID: 1721341030
Email: saqlainchy97@gmail.com
Executive Summary

Home-Style Cookies concentrated in making soft cookies of over 50 varieties without

any preservatives to attract consumers who aim to be healthy. The company follows the

just in time production method which reduces the overall cost with each task assigned in

a systematic manner where quality is not compromised and at the same time scraps are

used elsewhere to maximise usage. The company is using time-based strategy and

every procedure shows that their operation management is top notch. Home-Style

Cookies also encourages innovations in their products which is a very positive aspect

for their future growth and adaptability. The company can continue to grow in the hearts

of their customers with it’s effective policy of keeping manual labours but should be

open to improvements to sustain in the market.

1. Describe the operation issues in the case study.

The operation issue in the case study is: We could see that after the production

is completed, the biscuit are placed in the box manually. If it is placed by

machine, the process will be faster secondly the cost will be minimized

furthermore there will be no error. In case there are any broken cookies, the

machine can identify easily whereas if it done by human beings we cannot

identify the broken ones easily as we might be absent minded.

The other issue is that they are not keeping enough inventories for future

production .Whenever they are getting order, they are buying those ingredients

and preparing for the order. However this is a problem because suddenly in the

middle of the night if they get instant orders, they cannot fulfill the order due to

insufficient ingredients.

The quality of the cookies may deteriorate as they are transported to a very far

place while transporting some of the cookies might get broken which might result

in dissatisfaction for the customers. Later on they might complain for this issue so

it is better they find some customer who are closer to them.

Q.2) What are the service related challenges in this case study?

There’s only one category of item, but since there are over 50 varieties it could be

difficult to distinguish between the flavors of the cookies. The line manager has to take

the hard approach to maintain employee discipline as the environment is informal.

Looking at the bright side, the employees are focused on the tasks they are skillful at,

so they do not need any extra training for their job. However, anyone is lacking skills,

they could do on-the-job training. One of the major challenge they face is that their

products need to be sold out immediately as they do not use any preservatives. Even

though they follow the batch processing system and their production are scheduled

according to the ordered quantity but they do produce some extras that are held into

stocks, now these stocks has to be sold out real quick because of their short validity and

there’s a possible risk for those remaining stocks. This is one major reason that their

products are not widely available on mega stores and shops.

Their targeted consumers are children and people over the age of 45, so they do

not have product flexibility and also it is quite difficult for a low key company like theirs

to venture into new product lines and compete with the bigger scale companies.

Moreover, launching a new product could be expensive.

Some of the raw materials they use in the production are perishable and so these

raw materials has to be ordered frequently in small quantity as per requirement.

Transportation cost is added each time they order those items. And so if they want to

reduce the production cost, it is inconvenient for them to do so.

3) Apply the concept of line balancing. Is there a potential problem? If so, what do

you recommend to mitigate the problem(s)?

Answer: At first we need to understand what Line balancing is. Line balancing, in brief,

Is the process to design a smooth production flow and it does this by allocating

processes to workers which allows each worker to work individually which will result in

no idle time and this will result in improving productivity. Work must get through each

workstation in roughly the same amount of time. But here in this case they are using a

Batch Processing system and it is clearly stated that they start their production after

getting orders from their distributors which indicates that they are using just-in-time (JIT)

production. If they use line-balancing manufacturing then there will be a lot of inventory

and cookies might go into a wastage. The problems that will arrive is, firstly there will be

a lot of inventories which as said before will result in a loss. Secondly there will be a lot

of idle time in line-balancing production. In order to mitigate this problem they can keep

on following the batch processing manufacturing.

4) Is there any capacity expansion issue?

Answer: The capacity is a measure of how much output it can achieve in a given period.

Capacity expansion is important when a company wants to increase its production rate.

But for now capacity expansion is not required for Home–Style Cookies. Because the

target market is specific and they only produce soft cookies. So the company’s demand

don’t increase a lot. And capacity expansion is related to market demand. Expansion is

needed when there is increasing market demand.

Home-Style Cookies production starts when they get order from distributors. This is call

batch processing system. They match the order with inventory and starts the

production. They cannot use capacity expansion here because they don’t produce

cookies randomly.

Capacity is linked to the labor. Working more production shifts can increase capacity.

But Home-Style Cookies do not need any more labor. Because their labor are skillful

and they produce only soft cookies with 50 varieties.

Many company needs capacity expansion for seasonal changes in demand. They

produce different types of product for different season. Home-Style Cookies can use

little capacity expansion here. People want more chocolate cookies in Christmas. So

they forecast the demand and produce more chocolate cookies.

Capacity planning has a cost. Capacity expansion need new equipment in production

line, huge area and large number of labor. But Home-Style Cookies is a small company

with less than 200 labor. And its production is limited so the company cannot effort

capacity expansion.

Capacity expansion work when there is an increasing demand in market. So Home-

Style Cookies do not need capacity expansion because their demand is limited to their

target market
5) Demonstrate how expansion options effect capacity, profitability and service

quality issues?

Answer: Expansions on the capacity might result in producing large number of products

in a short time which means the productivity ratio or efficiency will be greater but the

expansion was only effective if the product had a long shelf life and the market was

huge, therefore capacity expansion is not required as the management team only starts

to get the production done only when they get the orders from the distributers as it

follows batch processing system.

Expansion will also effect on the profitability as it requires more investment on

equipments, raw materials, work force and other inventories. They might not get

expected returns on due time if the order number and distributer number is not

increased but it is not possible to get the large number of orders per day as the

company only make one item with 50 varieties and their targeted customers are over 45

years of age and young children which is very less.

The quality of the service might degrade due to expansion as the whole production

process will be operated automatically and packaging will be done before the inspection

due the expansion for the time management and it will be harder for them to check the

quality of the food for every batch and variety.

Conclusion

The organization ought to likewise focus on evolving innovation. One must receive

systems that expansion profitability. Organization must have distinctive working system

according to the interest and condition of the market. Moreover for the situation, since

the organization was working in community, there was less need of robotized machine

as the interest would likewise be lower to when contrasted with the enormous city where

there is huge populace and expanding request. Accordingly, solid inventory network

must be worked for successful generation.