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Medaille College MBA-621 Operations Management Case Study #2 Donner Company 3/8/2006 Amr Abbas Problem Definition The three-year old Donner Company has positioned itself well within both the small volume, customized (contract) printed circuit boards market as well as the large volume, generic (captive) printed circuit boards market. Large electronic firms (AT&T, IBM) produced their components in captive shops, while smaller sized companies, or when large and small quantities of simple technology or fast turn-around prototype boards were required, these requests usually are fulfilled by contract shops. With 750 competitors in the US alone, and a market that is volatile, Donner’s ability to anticipate and resolve design …show more content…

Please refer to the information flow chart (exhibit 2) and the order process flow chart (exhibit 3). Donner promised its customers 3 weeks delivery on orders of 1000 boards or less, and 5 weeks on orders larger than 1000 boards. Rush orders (orders of 8 boards or less) were delivered after 4 days. Donner operated at a plant that was carefully chosen by management to minimize installation costs, preserved the life of expensive machinery and isolated the operation’s diverse environment. After being in the same location for a year and a half, neither the machines nor the graphic equipment exhibited any signs of corrosion. In fact, by October 1986, Donner began to expand their current location, which was fully utilized, by installing an 1800 sq ft addition. This addition was due to be completed by November, 1987. Donner’s management had to implement policies that, in addition to manufacturing, had to be cost effective, as Donner was not able to attract outside capital (cited earlier: managed primarily by engineers, not necessarily business oriented). Analyzing Donner’s current situations, it is evident that the company is suffering from several problems relating to its manufacturing, labor, quality and delivery. Following is a highlight and a

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