Introduction: The manufacturer of our juicer is Black & Decker who specializes in power tools, hardware, and home improvement products. Our product is a home improvement device used to make fresh citrus juice. Possible improvements that were voiced by customers was the need for a lock to secure the lid and an easier reverse mechanism when the juicer auto-reverses. Whenever customers poured juice, they would run the risk of the lid flying off. It was easy to use and to make juice. The pulp control was effective in keeping out most of the pulp. However, even when testing the juicer, ourselves, we noticed the lid slipping off. Our team decided we will redesign the product to prevent the lid from coming off easily. We took apart the juicer, labeling each part with tape and its order number. As we did this, we transferred this information into our juicer’s Bill of Materials. We were able to see many functions and subfunctions in our application as we took it apart. We made a flowchart, showing these main functions of the juicer. Our juicer, prevents pulp from seeping into the juice, holds the juice in a container, and rotates to extract as much juice as possible. To make the necessary modification, first we came up with many possible alternate ideas and narrowed them down to four. We proceeded to make a Paul & Beitz matrix, deciding on criteria and ranking each alternate design. We completed our evaluation and had an alternate design chosen. To redesign our product, we needed
Cabinet saws are the sturdier, heavy, more precise type of table saws. Their cast iron frames provide the weight for the stability needed for precise cuts. They are excellent choices for working on large projects as they can rip through large items such as sheet stock and plywood. Cabinet table saws are standard in professional woodworking shops. They are constructed through a mix of steel and cast iron that is needed to support the larger motors that they need to produce a high amount of revolutions per minute. This added weight allows the cabinet table saws to be more stable and less noisy, an attractive feature for many professionals. In addition, a typical cabinet table saw houses its motor within an
National Bank of Canada ("NBC" or "the Bank") is tasked with the decision to review Dawson Lumber Company Limited's ("Dawson") request for an increase in its line of credit up to the amount of $10.8mm. Dawson intends to finance inventory and receivables with the line of credit. NBC must remain cognizant of the competitive landscape of the lumber industry and assess whether a focus on the retail segment is beneficial to Dawson's strategic plan. Given that Dawson is one of the region's largest borrowers, NBC must be careful in how it manages this relationship. The Bank cannot afford to turn away NBC's business. However, extending Dawson additional credit may increase Dawson's default risk and jeopardize the potential for NBC
One assumption that should be clearly analyzed is that the collection period is of 30 days net. Not always customers have the ability and willingness to pay off their debts in 30 days, some may take more time, and some could incur in bad debt.
Why did Hampton repurchase a substantial fraction of its outstanding common stock? What is the impact of this repurchase on Hampton's financial performance? Critically assess Hampton's dividend policy. Do you agree with Mr. Cowin's proposal to pay a substantial dividend in December?
In order to meet customer demands for higher product quality, to comply with federally-mandated environmental regulations, and to reduce production costs, HCC must spend $2,000,000 within the next three years to upgrade equipment. The upgrade is expected to result in production efficiencies that will lower material and labor costs by reducing defective products, process waste, in-process inventory, and production man-hours through simplified work processes. It has been over a decade since significant modifications were made to the production facilities. Those changes were mostly technical in nature and did not substantially alter work processes or reduce overall employment. The average productivity gain in the industry for the past five years has been 3% per year. Financing for the loan to purchase the equipment
Two young entrepreneurs and a lot of dedication and drive. That’s how it all began. Henry Sherwin, a native of Cleveland OH and graduate of Western Reserve College, weighed all of his career options and decided to go into business for himself. He pulled all of his resources and bought a stake in Truman, Dunham and Co, a firm that sold painter’s pigments, linseed oil, colors, brushes and other finishing and decorating products. Although this was not high on his list of choices, he saw potential in the industry. It was the post civil war era and Cleveland was experiencing an economic boom. His plan was to develop the market for paint and coatings to not only corporate America, but to the untapped consumer
Founded in 1954, the Lennar Company is known as one of the largest homebuilders in the United States along with being a provider of financial services. After listing its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange, Lennar saw momentous growth notably in the 80’s and 90’s but in particularly with the acquisition of Pacific Greystone Corporation. Also in 1997, Lennar saw the completion of their spin-off LNR Property Corp. Furthermore, in 2000 Lennar acquired U.S Home Corp; this helped to further expand Lennar’s operations in another five states as well as helping to strengthen their position in others.
6.) The Wilkerson Company original case is not effective and accurate without including an ABC analysis. ABC allowed us to assess the business performance of each of its businesses including: Valves, Pumps and Flow Controllers. This enabled us to realize that the Flow Controllers business is not profitable with a Gross Margin of -11.31%. I recommend specifically solving the problem of pre-tax margin going from 10% to less than 3%. The strategic decisions that need to be made are improving the unprofitable Flow Controllers business unit, while simultaneously increasing the sales of the more profitable Valves and Pumps business units. I would capitalize on the highest margin business of the Valves. Specifically, I would develop marketing strategies on how to grow market share in this business. I would assess what we are doing in this business and I would reapply it to our other businesses. This would include evaluating and eliminating costs in the other business units,
Wriston’s Detroit plant is no longer a viable operation due to long-term capital underinvestment and product-process mismatch. It is recommended that the plant be phased out of operations over a five-year period with production and staff gradually shifted to a new plant to be built in the Detroit area. Further, it is also recommended that division accounting procedures and evaluation mechanisms be modified to allocate revenues/costs allowing for the synergistic benefits of Detroit’s products, and to recognize inherent manufacturing complexities, respectively. Issues Detroit’s production is unique when compared to other Wriston plants. Runs are typically lowvolume, involve significant set-up time, and vary significantly due to the sheer
Based on the given information in the case study regarding the acquisition of Nicholson File Company by Cooper Industries, there is no question that Cooper should try to gain control of Nicholson. This decision is based on an analysis of the bargaining positions of each group of Nicholson stockholders which have disparate goals and needs that need to be met. In addition, an appropriate payment method and specific dollar value based on a competitor's offer and Cooper financial data was decided. The remainder of this paper will provide the analysis and rationale for this determination.
The company’s objective is to enable business and operational success through integrated world class solutions and development by utilizing the organizational restructure of the Engineering and R&D departments. Having a centralized organization with a decentralized engineering department makes meeting the company objective quite difficult. Also, if the company’s objective does not align with the department specific objectives Campbell Soup is setting their selves up for failure. Sales and Marketing are concerned with increasing market share and gaining profit, while the Plants are worried about operational performance, and Engineering is focused on individual parts of the system. In order to have a successful company
Wriston Manufacturing Corporation (WMC) is faced with a Detroit plant that is no longer viable because of underinvestment, labour issues, and product-process mismatch. This has lead to low sales figures, low return, and high burden rates (as calculated by the company). The issues at the Detroit plant will be reviewed and options will be presented. A recommendation to address the Detroit plant will be be made based on this review.
The Opportunity of the unit is based on its ability to modify its product despite the two failures. The unit has a very excellent and talented
The recession in late 2007 affected Herman Miller like that of other companies in this same industry. Herman Miller was able to come out of this better than most of because of measures taken in earlier recessions. Herman Miller was able to earn $152.3 million on $2.01 billion in sales in 2008. The 2010 sales had fell $700 million and earnings were down $124 million. But despite the downturn in the economy Herman Miller still was profitable. Pay cuts that were instituted in 2009 of 10% and the suspension of the 401(K) contributions. These cuts reduced job security but the employees railed around management because it was best for the company as a whole. Other companies would fail at this. Herman Miller has followed the same basic strategy throughout
First of all, as our research shows, if it is necessary, the company might be prepared to alter the products