Process Design for Riordan Manufacturing

It is becoming apparent that the ever changing environment in the global marketplace requires a swifter response time from businesses and their supply chains. The era when production was moved overseas, so businesses can take advantage of low-cost labor is coming to an end, because businesses are not only competing on price but also on time. The owner of Zara, a Spanish clothing store knows this first hand, and has turned supply chain management on its ear, making his company the “envy of the industry” (Ferdows, Lewis, & Machuca, 2004).

A supply chain is a net work of firms. Thus, each firm in the chain should build its own supply chains to support the competitive priorities of its services or products. Two distinct designs used to competitive advantage are efficient supply chains and responsive supply chains. Efficient supply chains work best in environments where demand is highly predictable. The focus of the supply chain is on efficient flows of services and materials keeping inventories to a minimum. The firm’s competitive priorities are low-cost operations, consistent quality, and on-time delivery. Responsive supply chains designed to react quickly in order to hedge against uncertainties in demand. Work best when firms offer a great variety of services or products and demand predictability is low. Typical competitive priorities are development speed, fast delivery times, customization, variety, volume flexibility, and top quality. Tables below show the environments and design features that best suit each design.

Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastics manufacturer and is a subsidiary of Riordan Industries. Riordan Manufacturing has three main production facilities located in Georgia, Michigan and Hangzhou, China. This paper will focus on the manufacturing business and supply chain activities of the electric fan production in Hangzhou China with information on manufacturing strategy, production performance, supplier relationships, forecasting and inventory.

Team B has obtained information for SR-rm-002 asking for an assessment for the development of an MRP system that would trace and run raw materials and give a finished product inventory. This evaluation is to help Riordan Manufacturing lessen the raw materials received at each plant, and manage and reduce the completed good inventory costs, at all its plants. This is a high level complete analysis, which will result in projected changes to the system; though it does not include an all-inclusive schedule for completion nor thorough scope by department. This paper will illustrate the system development life cycle process

Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastics manufacturer employing 550 people with projected annual earnings of $46 million. There is a plant in Albany, GA that produces plastic beverage containers, a plant in Pontiac, MI that produces custom plastic parts, and a plastic fan parts facility in Hangzhou, China. The corporate office is in San Jose, CA along with the corporations Research and Development Department. Riordan Manufacturing is a subsidiary of the parent company Riordan Industries, Inc. a Fortune 1000 enterprise with revenues in excess of $1 billion (Apollo Group, 2013).

Riordan Manufacturing is a global producer and manufacturer in the global plastics industries and has about 550 people that have a projected annual earning of over $46 million dollars. Riordan has a manufacturing plant located in Albany, GA that is capable of producing plastic beverage containers, another plant that is located in Pontiac MI that is capable of producing custom plastic parts, and another plant located in Hangzhou, China that produces plastic fan parts. The corporate offices and research and development department of Riordan are located in San Jose, California. Riordan Manufacturing is part of Riordan industries Inc.

The focus of this paper is to analysis the regulatory measures of Riordan Manufacturing. Riordan Manufacturing, Inc. is an industry leader in the field of plastic injection molding. With state-of-the art design capabilities, creating innovative plastic designs that have earned international acclaim. Attention to detail, extreme precision and enthusiastic quality control are the hallmarks of Riordan Manufacturing. With facilities in San Jose, California, Albany, Georgia, Pontiac, Michigan and

Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastics manufacturer employing 550 people with projected annual earnings of $46 million. Riordan’s main customers range from automotive parts manufacturers to the Department of Defense. One of Riordan’s main productions is plastic beverage containers. Riordan’s most recent expansion took place in 2000 when the company relocated operations from Pontiac Michigan to China. The Pontiac Michigan facility was retooled for the manufacture of custom plastic parts

There is a necessity to have either hardware or software to integrate the accounting information into an automated system for viewing by the proper individuals. Below, Learning Team A will show who needs to access this information, what controls will be implemented, the type of reports to be generated from these hardware or software and importantly what type of information will be available through corporate Intranet and the Internet. Having the proper hardware and software integrating Riordan's data into automated systems will make life easier for those involved with all the accounting cycles, especially accounts receivable.

Riordan Manufacturing is a privately held company with plant operations in Albany, Georgia; Pontiac, Michigan; Hangzhou, China. The Corporate Headquarters are located in San Jose, California. Riordan Manufacturing is a subsidiary of Riordan Industries. The Chief Operating Officer (COO) is Hugh McCauley and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is Dale Edgel. The Company employs a work force of 550 people throughout the four locations.

Riordan Manufacturing is a mid-size American company that was founded in 1991, employs 550 people and has projected annual earnings of $46 million. Riordan has three manufacturing locations, two in the United States and one in China. Riordan understands the importance of strategic planning and will lay out their reasoning in this paper. Competitive advantages, sustainability, innovation and ethical and social responsibilities will be addressed, as well as cultural and structural leadership and assessment and feedback controls.

A short time ago the company stretched out internationally after opening operations in China in 2000. The fan manufacturing reposition from the MI plant to China and the MI plant underwent retooling to move into design plastic part manufacturing. Currently, Riordan Manufacturing products consist of plastic beverage containers produced in Albany GA, custom plastic manufacturing in Pontiac MI, and plastic fan parts created in Hangzhou China. The Research and Development is done at the corporate headquarters in San Jose, CA. The majority of customers entail automotive parts manufacturers, beverage makers and bottlers, appliance manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, and several high-level government contracts.

The lean and agile paradigms, while particularly different, can be and have been joint within effectively designed and operated total supply chains. In the Wings and Legs case, cost is an important market winner and this is reduced by leanness. In the case of agility the key point is that Wings and Legs operate in an extremely volatile marketplace. Therefore the solution is to develop a hybrid supply chain.

Riordan Manufacturing Inc. is in the field of plastic injection molding. A leader in plastics designs in many different areas, with state of the art capabilities in developing innovative products for their customers. The company was founded by Dr. Riordan, a professor of chemistry, working with processing polymers into high strength plastic articles. Dr. Riordan obtained patents and licensing to start manufacturing plastic fans in the plant at Pontiac, Michigan in 1992. This summary will cover Riordan’s mission, the four plant description, and the companies finance and accounting.

1We would like to thank Shiming Deng for his valuable contributions to the preparation of this manual.