Toy World Case

When our group first started planning our strategy to win the second Littlefield simulation game, it was evident that the goal of the game was to maximize profits. We were competing against 18 other teams, but we knew with correct system capacity management and correct inventory management we could be the number one team. Even though we made correct decisions overall, we ended up in second place again with a cash balance of $2,660,393 and remaining inventory of 52 kits. Although we were a little disappointed again, we were very satisfied with what we have learned and the important operations management concepts we used such as capacity management and lead-time and inventory management throughout both of the Littlefield simulation games.

We observed non-viable cost patterns due to high customization and low unit orders by retailers for specialty branded doll #106, hence the management should look at better sales & marketing strategy to take bulk orders

In order to get toys in its stores by October, Specialty places one-time orders with its manufacturers in June or July of each year. Demand for children’s toys can be highly volatile. If a new toy catches on, a sense of shortage in the marketplace often increases the demand to high levels and large profits can be realized. However, new toys can also flop,

The company has been functioning well in terms of generating profit and demand so far. However, there will be a 20% increase in demand for the next month of operations as predicted by management, and the production and supply management's problems may come as a problem they can no longer afford.

Mr. Weir must analyze both business and financial risks of adopting level production. As a for profit

However, forecast errors will also lead to unhappy customers, lost sales, and excessive inventory. To minimize errors, retailers should find the right demand forecast. Retailers do not want to have a lot of inventory sitting in the back room and too little inventory that will cause out of stock. Holding huge inventory will cause a retailer to have more expenses and decrease their profit if item is not sold especially if the product is innovative type like electronics. The challenge is to balance the inventory with demand. Communication and contribution from people in functional area is also important to create better information and improve overall accuracy. At this time, customer satisfaction will start to decrease. For example, MPRNews says one of Target loyal customer, Ann Hendricks, she is disappointed with target store in St.Paul. “Too many times, she says that store is out of the milk, coffee, bread, pasta and other staples she wants. At Target, sometimes the whole section of cheeses is blank. There's nothing in there” (Moylan). A loyal customer like Ann Hendricks goes to the Lunds & Byerlys store in downtown St. Paul to buy her grocery

Toys R Us' financial troubles are not new. As part of a broad reorganization, the Wayne, N.J. company, who at one time was the nation's second-biggest toy retailer, decided to close their Kids R Us stores and sell of its Imaginarium stores, which sell educational products and be left with Toys R Us and Babies R Us. By doing this Toys R Us has planned that over the next year it would reduce operating expenses and cut capital spending. In addition, it planned to mark down prices

Mattel has successfully implemented inventory management concepts in leveraging its distribution assets, ensuring that product availability remains high. It has implemented advanced technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to effectively collaborate with its largest customers. By continuing to optimize its supply chain through application of advanced supply chain concepts, technologies and policies, Mattel continues to lead the traditional toy industry.

If we change to level monthly production, we can save up to $169,000. Mainly, this savings come from reducing overtime premium by $225,000 and other direct labor savings by $265,000. Although, the storage costs will increase by $115,000 but we still will end up with $169,000 as savings.

[pic]s a senior in a professional services firm, you have been assigned to plan the financial statement audit of a private company named Toy Central Corporation (TCC). In addition, the partner on the engagement has asked you to identify business risks that could adversely affect TCC’s sustained profitability, so that they can be brought to the attention of the company’s board of directors. These tasks will require you to draw on your knowledge of supply chain management, marketing, internal controls, audit assertions, and financial accounting.

Even though the company has been turning in profits, the ineffective collection practice, not availing trade discounts on time and ineffective inventory management has led the company in need of larger financing needs.

Through studying the entire retail toy industry, we have been able to understand the complexity of the industry in which Toys "R" Us operates. Upon completion of the analysis, we realized that the industry is growing stably,

In the past, the toy business was just an annex of the publishing industry. Little effort was invested in toys which were not even mentioned strategic plans. Now the toy industry is the second-highest profit maker in Marvel, generating over $20 billion in sales in 2003. The toy business is very promising in the future. However its percentage in revenue will still remain stable or slightly decrease, just as publishing will do, because licensing has such a strong possibility for growth. In addition, while the toy industry competition is too fierce to permit further achievements.

There are different ways how Toys “R” Us can reach profitability by obtaining customers year-round. The company should appeal to its established historic customer base that will respond to its stores because of their loyalty to the company. The company can do this by opening new product lines. They can focus on obtaining products that are high in demand by their competitors. They can use their already established company popularity to obtain strong supplier relationships for the additional products. These will supply the company with an additional source of income and the

Assume you have been hired as a managing consultant by a company to offer some advice that will help it make a decision as to whether it should shut down completely or continue its operations. It currently uses 100 workers to produce 6,000 units of output per month (working 20 days / month). The daily wage (per worker) is $70, and the price of the firm's output is $32. The cost of other variable inputs is $2,000 per day. It also tells us that the firm's fixed cost is “high enough” so that the firm's total costs exceed its total revenue. The marginal cost of the last unit is $30.