American Connector Company - 1

Company * Avon manufactured a number of electrical products * Sold products to both end users and OEMs * $6M in sales annually of the AVDC drives, lost sales to EAS drives Collaborators * Distributors and OEMs ­ Avon could establish many more relationships once they can compete in more than just the AVDC drives, and can address the more price sensitive side of the market Customers * Three types of adjustable speed drives: MAS, EAS and AVDC, with different applications and price levels *

Read the “Harnischfeger Corp” case study and answer the following questions. Submit your completed assignment no later than the last day of Week 2.

3. Can you cite any professional examples of mechanistic practice that you 've encountered? (or if you are currently teaching, you may describe what you do that may exemplify mechanistic practice)

1. Relate the Ecco case to the conceptualization of the organization as a global factory. What similarities and dissimilarities with the global factory conceptualization do you see and what solutions may it present?

1. What recommendations would you make to John Wolf with respect to structuring the supplier relationship process for the Wolf Motors dealership network?

1. State the business case for option #3, the PCB In-sourcing proposal. What is the benefit? What is the risk? How do you compare this proposal to option #1 and #2?

2. What is the total cost? How much of the total cost are labor costs? Capital costs?

• Cost would increase to $600/wafer, which would cut our gross profit by 35%. The cost calculations are given in Exhibit 1.

meant that the alternative supply of wafers would have to be found or developed in house · $40-$50 Million to develop in house

Founded in 1975, Custom Molds Inc. is the producer and supplier of bespoke molds and plastic connectors to the electronics industry. Building on its reputation, the company expanded in-house operations in the 1980s to include the limited production of plastic parts geared towards R&D based initiatives. During the early 1990s, the company realized that the shifting structure and market environment of the electronics industry was starting to impinge on the company’s manufacturing processes. This created a host of issues.

More complex design conflicted with automated production line. It largely increased molding cost / production cost and caused an extremely low inventory turnover, much lower than its competitors. Major customers were frustrated by stock-out and slow-moving inventory.

• This cost method does not provide the best system for JDCW’s cost allocation. By using only three overhead rates the present system grossly undermines the true production costs since other activities of the production process are not acknowledged.

Custom Molds Inc., manufactures custom designed molds for plastic parts and produces custom made plastic connectors for the electronics industry. Established in 1987, the primary focus was to provide manufacturers or electronic connectors a source of high-quality custom-designed molds for producing plastic parts. After building a strong brand reputation through the designing and fabrication of precision molds, Custom Mold’s expanded into the limited manufacture of plastic parts. The operations at Custom Mold’s include a process for fabricating molds and a second process for producing plastic parts.

Chapter 7: Mass customization of products has become a common approach in manufacturing organizations. Explain the ways in which mass customization can be applied to service firms as well.

This Assignment will develop your skills in industry analysis. This must be done as individual work, so you must not discuss the case with anyone else before completing the Assignment. Please use the following questions to structure your answer: