Process design and supply chain management for Riordan electric fans

Riordan Fans

Riordan's plant A is in China and produces the plastic fan blades and housings, with the Michigan, USA, location the customized look of the fans. Challenges were identified that show obstacles to the manner in which the process design and supply chain were handled and could be improved.

Process Design for Production of Riordan Electric Fan:

Currently, the Chinese plant uses a made-to-order fabrication process in manufacturing. The process is high in quality, but low in efficiency because it uses batching to allow fans to be made to the consumer's needs. However, the market is growing to the point that this is inefficient. For Riordan to remain competitive, it needs to be more aggressive in process design so it can gain more market share.

Inventory management should support a just-in-time delivery system (JIT) and the process should include an overview of material requirements planning (MRP) and manufacturing resource planning (MRPII). MRP is a planning and inventory control system that simultaneously meets three major objectives: 1) Ensure that materials and products are available for timely production and delivery to clients; 2) Maintain the lowest possible level of inventory without compromising the manufacturing system; 3) Plan manufacturing activities, delivery schedules, and purchasing activities in a strategic manner to ensure productivity (Orlicky, 1994). MRPII is an upgrade from MRP, and is a method for the effective planning of all resources of a manufacturing company as it addresses and focuses on operational planning in units, financial planning, and the more advanced capability of answering "what if" questions and improving the quality of data management and error control. Instead of just being a software solution for just manufacturing, though, the MRPII is more all-encompassing, integrating systems together so that capacity planning will be more successful within the manufacturing process. (Wolsey, 2006). JIT is an inventory-based strategy that focuses on improving a company's return on investment by critically managing inventory and the associated carrying costs of such. Keeping inventory to a minimum, but ensuring that the right raw materials and products are available exactly when needed can improve a company's bottom line considerably. The major benefits to a JIT system, besides cost control, include: reduction of set up times; flow of goods from warehouse to manufacturing; use of employees for multiple tasks; more accurate scheduling; and an increased emphasis on partnering with suppliers for long-term relationships (Greb, 2009).

Figure 1 -- New Process System

Supply Chain Analysis:

Supply-chain management (SCM) is the manner in which a number of organizations are networked to provide products and services. It is a broad category -- involves the entire larger picture of obtaining goods, manufacturing, designing, delivering, and selling. The process of SCM can be simple or complex, depending on the nature of the project or output, how many No organization operates in a vacuum or is wise to use only one way of ensuring profit for its business. Instead, using technology and supply chain inventory management to reduce some costs; combined with renegotiating fixed costs, should provide a more stable environment for Riordan (Jongebloed, 2007).