Itm601 Assignment 3
ITM 601 – Winter 2012
Assignment 3 (due March 19)
Garage Design Company (GDC) is considering a reorganization of its product line of residential garage doors. This reorganization idea has originated from a customer complaint (mostly from customers shopping online) that there are too many styles and options to select from. The high level of customization offered to customers is usually considered as a critical strategy and GDC had expanded their product line over the years based on this premise. Recently however, a significant proportion of new customers have been suggesting that although they appreciate the ability to customize, they would appreciate an easier decision process even more.
GDC management has decided to take action and test a new strategy. Some of the current production capacity will be allocated to a new line (Easy-Go Family) of garage doors that will make the customers’ selection process much easier. This line will consist of five products:
Ranch, Old-Country, Classic, Contemporary, and Fusion. These products are not new designs; they simply constitute the core categories from GDC’s existing residential garage door designs.
Although limited, there will still be options offered for each new product, however with a much more streamlined selection process.
The basic steps of the manufacturing process for all these doors are (1) roll forming and press,
(2) cutting and panel formation, (3) insulation, (4) component installation. It has been estimated that the capacity that can be allocated in these four processes are 20%, 25%, 18%, and 30%, respectively. That is, for example, 20% of the total capacity for the roll forming and press process can be allocated for the production of the five new products. The remaining 80% is being used for other products of the company.
The production planning department also came up with the estimates for the usage of assigned capacity. These values are given in the table below. The values show the
Assignment 3 (due March 19)
Garage Design Company (GDC) is considering a reorganization of its product line of residential garage doors. This reorganization idea has originated from a customer complaint (mostly from customers shopping online) that there are too many styles and options to select from. The high level of customization offered to customers is usually considered as a critical strategy and GDC had expanded their product line over the years based on this premise. Recently however, a significant proportion of new customers have been suggesting that although they appreciate the ability to customize, they would appreciate an easier decision process even more.
GDC management has decided to take action and test a new strategy. Some of the current production capacity will be allocated to a new line (Easy-Go Family) of garage doors that will make the customers’ selection process much easier. This line will consist of five products:
Ranch, Old-Country, Classic, Contemporary, and Fusion. These products are not new designs; they simply constitute the core categories from GDC’s existing residential garage door designs.
Although limited, there will still be options offered for each new product, however with a much more streamlined selection process.
The basic steps of the manufacturing process for all these doors are (1) roll forming and press,
(2) cutting and panel formation, (3) insulation, (4) component installation. It has been estimated that the capacity that can be allocated in these four processes are 20%, 25%, 18%, and 30%, respectively. That is, for example, 20% of the total capacity for the roll forming and press process can be allocated for the production of the five new products. The remaining 80% is being used for other products of the company.
The production planning department also came up with the estimates for the usage of assigned capacity. These values are given in the table below. The values show the