MBA 575 Case 5
MBA 575: Case Study 5
Kayla Rodney
The University of Northwestern Ohio
CH 3: "Antar Automobile Company-Part 1: The Automation Project"
Rob Dander, project manager in the Operation Research Department (ORD) was charged with managing a large computer project for Antar’s new manufacturing process. Dander was assigned three assistants to help with this project, all with different experience levels. The team was to function as a high-performance product development team, however they lacked sufficient tools to do so. “The primary problems of poor communication and poor coordination of typical product development processes in organizations can be rectified by creating self-managing, cross-functional product development teams” (Griffin and Moorhead, 2014). Implementing an effective revamp of Antar’s manufacturing process with the installation of a robotics system lay in the findings of Dander’s team. “The ORD would run a full-scale simulation of the entire manufacturing process and determine the working requirements that would optimize production while lowering costs. A major concern of management was to establish a program that would occupy minimal computer time and which could easily adapt to changing parameters and inputs. A secondary objective was to use the simulation to train operators on how to manipulate the new computer monitors which automation would bring” (Seijts, 2006). Thus, it is clear that management had a large investment in the outcome of the project with the company’s need to stay competitive in the market by cutting manufacturing costs.
In implementing this team, management chose for Dander three assistants; Susan Wright, Dan Vincent, and Mark Mancuso. These employees had never met and had varying work experience for the company. Susan brought experience from anther automobile manufacturer, Dan brought systems engineering skills, and Mark brought three years of operational experience and work-study experience in determining the
Kayla Rodney
The University of Northwestern Ohio
CH 3: "Antar Automobile Company-Part 1: The Automation Project"
Rob Dander, project manager in the Operation Research Department (ORD) was charged with managing a large computer project for Antar’s new manufacturing process. Dander was assigned three assistants to help with this project, all with different experience levels. The team was to function as a high-performance product development team, however they lacked sufficient tools to do so. “The primary problems of poor communication and poor coordination of typical product development processes in organizations can be rectified by creating self-managing, cross-functional product development teams” (Griffin and Moorhead, 2014). Implementing an effective revamp of Antar’s manufacturing process with the installation of a robotics system lay in the findings of Dander’s team. “The ORD would run a full-scale simulation of the entire manufacturing process and determine the working requirements that would optimize production while lowering costs. A major concern of management was to establish a program that would occupy minimal computer time and which could easily adapt to changing parameters and inputs. A secondary objective was to use the simulation to train operators on how to manipulate the new computer monitors which automation would bring” (Seijts, 2006). Thus, it is clear that management had a large investment in the outcome of the project with the company’s need to stay competitive in the market by cutting manufacturing costs.
In implementing this team, management chose for Dander three assistants; Susan Wright, Dan Vincent, and Mark Mancuso. These employees had never met and had varying work experience for the company. Susan brought experience from anther automobile manufacturer, Dan brought systems engineering skills, and Mark brought three years of operational experience and work-study experience in determining the
References: Griffin, R. W. & Moorhead, G. (2014). Organizational Behavior. Managing People and Organizations. (11th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western. Seijts, Gerard H. (2006). Cases in Organizational Behavior. WestJet Airlines (A): The Culture That Breeds A Passion To Succeed. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.