5-1

Week  four we explored  the correlation and relationship of processes, process improvement TQM, and capacity planning as we continue our discussion of lean and its other components:

· Just in time (JIT),

· Lean effect on the supply chain that translates into increase of profits as we remove waste

· Integrated supply chains – we use sole sourcing (purchasing) as our vendors and customer are all linked electronically, i.e.  a product is sold and scanned at the point of sale (POS), it is taken out of store inventor and a point an order is triggered to the vendor and/or  warehouse . The  is filled with the quality being removed from the warehouse inventor and at a predetermine level which is based on a  number of days inventor  and order is generated and sent to the vendor/supplier/manufacture of the product. This process is then repeated through the vendors supply chain removing the bull-whip effect.

· kanban system ,  http://www.beyondlean.com/kanban.html

· Why Lean has to be part of the organizational culture 

Week five we are adding another element of operation management that drives operation management which is forecasting. Forecasting is projecting what we expect in the future, with the future being defined   as:

· Operation with a  time horizon of now to about  six months

· Tactical with a time horizon of   12-18 months

· Strategic with a time horizon of  3-5 years  and depending on the industry out to 10 years

We forecast demand, capacity requirements now and into the future, all resources such as financial, sales, facility, human capital and production. Our forecast are based on the  analysis, of both internal and external  data of past, present, market and industry research, with the most important  element which is the reasoning/detailed explanation of the conclusion reach by who is making the forecast.

Week five we do not have a discussion board, but you do have milestone two of your final project due, which is the process of building a business/strategic plan for your selected company that is due by 11:59 PM Sunday of week three.

PLEASE make sure to read the assignment requirements carefully and if you are not sure ask for clarification.

Core bases of the assignment is:

“Determine strategies for reducing infrastructure costs through the use of lean manufacturing, just in time (JIT), optimized production technology (OPT), theory of constraints (TOC), and capacity constraint resources (CCR) to improve supply chain efficiency and logistics. What operations business strategy does the company use in producing its goods and/or services, and what continuous improvement techniques are used? What tools and metrics are used for forecasting customer demand? How does sustainability play a part in the delivery of goods and services?   “

THIS IS your work, ideas recommendation and as such quoting someone else recommendation/ideas does NOT equate to YOUR recommendations

What You Have to Submit

 Prompt: Determine strategies for reducing infrastructure costs through the use of lean manufacturing, just in time (JIT),optimized production technology (OPT), theory of constraints (TOC),and capacity constraint resources(CCR)to improve supply chain efficiency and logistics. What operations business strategy does the company use in producing its goods and/or services, and what continuous improvement techniques are used? What tools and metrics are used for forecasting customer demand? How does sustainability play a part in the delivery of goods and services? 

Milestone two is a continuation of Milestone where you selected your company and did research to gather information so you could make an assessment of the company’s present operation specifically with respect to its capacities and limitation and then make your required recommendation for the improvements. This was not about describing the history/past and/or what the company had already accomplished or implemented in the past but what you saw that simple needed to be changed.

Analogy:

You are going to by a car so you do your research about safety, gas mileage, options and pricing of the car you are interested in ( your selected company) and how it compares to other  similar cars and features/accessories.

You then you go to a friend to tell him/her tell them about which car you decided to buy and why ( your assessment/reasoning) you selected that particular car ( your recommendation based on the information you found past and present).

Milestone 2 simply/ restated/broken down

 Core Bases of the assignment:

Determine strategies for reducing infrastructure costs through the use of lean manufacturing, just in time (JIT), optimized production technology (OPT), theory of constraints (TOC), and capacity constraint resources (CCR)to improve supply chain efficiency and logistics.

What you need to submit

Introduction

· What operations business strategy does the company use in producing its goods and/or services, and what continuous improvement techniques are used?

· What tools and metrics are used for forecasting customer demand?

· How does sustainability play a part in the delivery of goods and services? 

Body

You are to create/formulate/provide your long term plans based on your selected real company, real present/current operations (you determined in milestone one) that will reduce total operating cost for the company by explaining what your plans for using/applying the following tools and how and why those plans translates into improving/increasing the efficiency of the supply chain and thus the bottom line (net profit)

· Lean manufacturing, i.e. What do you see as  opportunities for the company or organization to employ lean techniques to strengthen organizational performance while supporting current business operations

· What do you see as the potential outcome of using these lean techniques?

· Just in time (JIT), i.e. determine opportunities for the company or organization to use just-in-time (JIT) practices, such as safety stock, to reduce inventory costs while supporting current business operations.

· What is the potential outcome of using these JIT practices?

· Optimized production technology (OPT), theory of constraints (TOC), capacity constraint resources(CCR)to improve supply chain efficiency and logistics  i.e. What do you see as  opportunities for the company or organization to use optimized production technology (OPT)and theory of constraints (TOC) principles to reduce costs and increase throughput while supporting current business operations.

· What is the potential outcome of using these OPT and TOC principles?

· What do you see as opportunities for the company or organization to employ lean techniques to strengthen organizational performance while supporting current business operations?

Conclusion

Where and what resource will the information be found and that you will need

To continue your analysis, you will need to gather information about lean practices and forecasting. Information can generally be found on the organization’s main website, in the annual report and mission statement, and in articles authored by the company or outside analysts, such as ThomasNet.com, buy/sell sites (e.g., Jim Cramer), and investment companies (e.g., Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, or Vanguard). As operations management students and professionals, you are encouraged to use your own experience, understanding, and knowledge of business and industry structure to drive your analysis.

The 5-7 pages are the content so they are excluding the title and reference pages

NOTE: You are creating this report for your select company as if you worked for the company and were given this project to complete, so it is perspective/ideas/recommendation supported and based on the knowledge/information you research and assessed. So, although it is an academic assignment the content should assimilate an internal business document for Executive Management citing appropriate sources of information but not providing lesson with quotes from the text

A limitation of the assignment:

If you happen to work for your select company you will have some more insight into your company’s operation but if you do not you will have to rely sole on your research and assessment as a base to/of your selected company for making and supporting with your reasoning of your recommendations for this assignment. i.e. fulfilling the requirements of the assignment

Ebenezer

Although very good it is more conceptual than specific evidenced by the number of citation and the assignment asked YOU to "  

 Prompt: Determine strategies for reducing infrastructure costs through the use of lean manufacturing, just in time (JIT),optimized production technology (OPT), theory of constraints (TOC),and capacity constraint resources(CCR)to improve supply chain efficiency and logistics. What operations business strategy does the company use in producing its goods and/or services, and what continuous improvement techniques are used? What tools and metrics are used for forecasting customer demand? How does sustainability play a part in the delivery of goods and services? ", and I saw nothing about logistic  forecasting , metrics or your recommended  strategies.