Case studies in operations and supply chain management

Operations Management & Supply Chain Management

The case study is touches on the development and production of a board game known as X-Opoly, a game similar to the famous monopoly. X-Opoly was the idea of two students in their first year at college who envisioned creation of a knockoff real estate game similar to monopoly. However their business underwent rapid growth and currently they expect to sell about 50,000 units. Over the period of the next five years they project increase in sales by 25% each year. The order for the games come in two distinct manners, with the first being ordering for an already existing game and the second being a new game. For a new game to be ordered for, the client and an employee in the art department normally sit down and come up with a design according to the specifications of the client. The time taken to design and come up with a new game depends on the exact specifications that have been set by the client. This is followed by the actual process of printing. Within the printing department the board design, game cards, property cards and money are all printed using different materials. The step that follows is cutting the components of the game and lastly the components are all stored in boxes where they will be delivered to corresponding stations on the line of assembly which is composed of 19 stations.

Case study analysis

The key issues and the underlying issues

According to the case study, the noticeable key issue within X-Opoly Inc. is the fact that they might not be able to keep up the growth of the organization. This means that in the years to come the organization might not sustain the increasing demands of their new and existing clients. The organization will also not be able to stand out and be recognized using a single game type. They will only be known as an organization where whatever game you want it can be made for you, and in as much as this approach appears and sounds to get something good realistically speaking it is not the best for the long-term run of the company as it kills the spirit of brand identity. This will bar the organization from getting its own identity in future. For any business to survive and have an impact in the market there has to be a specific brand people know or can associate an organization with. This is what X-Opoly does not have and they need to work towards achieving.

The underlying issues in this case study are such as the fact that the two college students did not have a clearly though business plan before they started out the organization (Pamplin College of Business, 2012). Their idea was just the production of knockoff real estate board games that were similar to parker brothers; monopoly game. This is the key underlying issue that still haunts them today. This is because they did not have a specific idea of what their games would be like.

This is why they are giving room and space for custom making games according to the exact specifications of a client. If they had clearly stipulated and come up with their exact game brand then they would not have to go through all the trouble of having to come up with new games according to the specifications of a client. Instead of going through the entire process every other time, they could simply produce and market their specific games which people will know and associate them with.

Another issue is the fact that X-Opoly does not have an efficient assembly plan. The assembly plan within the organization was not planned formally and well. The reason behind this is the fact that the organization went through an explosive growth which was not expected initially. This means that the founders were not ready or had not put up a clear plan on how they would handle any growth that could take place (Zigiaris, 2010).

The facts affecting sustainability of X-Opoly

The entire process of ordering new games is quite a long one, an involving process in different departments and requires a lot of time. This coupled with another long assembly line are the factors that affect or stir up these key issues on brand sustainability. The 19 stations are too many for the assembly process. If only the assembly process could have been properly planned then the entire assembly process would be made easier and faster. The other fact that affects the issues in the case study is the lack of a specific type of game that the organization makes (Slack, Chambers & Johnston, 2010). This leads to taking long when coming up with new games and hence slows down the entire production and delivering of orders. This is because if clients want complex designs it means that the entire process will take long and hence the organization might not be able to meet the needs of their clients effectively.

Tentative solution

The organization requires a solution that will help them deal with the explosive growth and satisfy their clients. First of all the first solution would be making adjustments on the assembly process. All these 19 stations are not all required. There are some processes that can be combined within one station. This will help in ensuring that the products do not go through so many stations. Another solution is trying to come up with one specific game and ensuring that it is properly marketed and people know about it. This will be the game people associate the organization with.