CASE 1

TARACARE, INC, page 43-44

Question 1

Manufacturing managers are the people who watch over and organize the daily operations of manufacturing

plants. Their job involves overseeing employees, production and efficiency, to make sure the plant is running

smoothly, quickly, efficiently and safely. In terms of the core tasks of manufacturing management, running a

plant that makes replacement windows is no different from running a plant that makes outdoor furniture. The

tasks of managing a manufacturing facility are the same and don’t depends too much on the products which are

made. The only difference would be the different manufacturing processes between the two different product

lines. Still, both products are fabricated based on similar raw materials, such as aluminum, glass and wood. So

Alfredo should already be familiar with the processes to handle these raw materials and just needs the

knowledge of fabricating and assembling the parts which might not be so different from his experience of

manufacturing the replacement windows. In short, as long as Alfredo knows how to run a manufacturing facility,

he’s qualified for the company’s manufacturing manager position.

Question 2

Being in Alfredo’s shoes, with the responsibilities of a manufacturing manager as well as the concern for

improving the company’s delivery performance and quality, he would likely make recommendations such as the

following:

1. Having the purchasing agent consult with the operational department before switching suppliers to

determine the impact of the purchasing decisions on the cost and quality of the final products.

2. Setting the schedule to run a special promotion after launching the new product lines to ensure the delivery

commitments.

3. Having the product designs checked by the production staff to assess the new features and its feasibility of

production.

4. The accounting department and the finance department should discuss and make a trade-off between

equipment utilization and maintaining adequate inventory levels.

Disconnection between departmental communication seems to be the biggest issue. Setting up a direct line of

communication throughout each department would lead to decisions that benefit the company as a whole,

rather than benefiting just one particular department while putting another at a disadvantage. By coming

together and creating one cohesive plan throughout each department that distinguishes how Taracare, Inc.

should manage its costs and inventory to match up with attainable promotional offers will help the company be

more efficient in their delivery performance and quality.

Question 3

Given that Jorge was once a top sales rep of outdoor furniture of one of the leading national manufacturers, he

is definitely more interested in quantity over quality and doesn’t strive to have his products be of the best value,

or even better than that of the competition. Alfredo’s recommendations are presented to Jorge in such a detail-

oriented manner on how the company is being negatively impacted, but Jorge raises no concerns. So, what Jorge

would probably do as a response to Alfredo’s recommendations is writing most of them off and picking only one

or two issues to look into. With Jorge’s ambition for Taracare, it is obvious that his priorities are to remain at the

top. By rephrasing Alfredo’s recommendations in a more positive aspect that emphasizing the main goal of

making Taracare a top selling manufacturer to major national retailers and focusing on fixing the one main issue

the company is having rather than resolving the different symptoms stemming from it, will put things into his

perspective.