Process Control and Operations

¶ … Company's Performance

The control chart delineates the 18 months manufacturing operations of Hi-Pro Performance Fly Rods in three countries, namely: the United States, Argentina, and New Zealand. In delineation, control charts are also referred to as process-behavior charts and are components of statistical process control that are utilized to determine whether a manufacturing process or business process is deemed to be in a state of statistical control. In particular, statistical process control is utilized so as to undertake the monitoring and control of a process. In addition, it is employed to ascertain the continuous improvement in terms of quality of the products and services as well as productivity and output of the personnel. Control charts have limits which enable managers to assess which processes are stable and unstable (Tague, 2005).

For the performances of all three countries, none of the averages randomly fall both above and below the centerline. In the U.S. market, at month 18, the manufacturing process is producing at 126% of the acceptable upper limit of performance. In Argentina, at month 18, the manufacturing process is producing at 33% of the acceptable lower limit of performance. In New Zealand, at month 18, the manufacturing process is producing at 110% of the acceptable lower limit. In this case, the performance of the United States operations for the 18 months falls above the acceptable upper limit. On the other hand, the performances of Argentina operations fall below the standard performance, but falls within both the acceptable upper limit and acceptable lower limit. Lastly, the New Zealand operations completely fall below the acceptable lower limit as illustrated in the diagram, which indicates a lack of stability.

Taking into consideration that the analysis of the control chart points out that the process is presently not under control, that is, it is not stable, then it is necessary for Hi-Pro Performance Fly Rods to undertake alterations or changes to its process control factors in order to attain stability in its manufacturing process. It is imperative to understand the underlying and fundamental causes of prevailing performances of operations for all three nations and enhance the process. The performance of manufacturing operations in Argentina has not surpassed any of the control limits. However, they are below the standard performance. According to May and Spanos (2006), this might be as a result of different aspects such as operator fatigue, depletion and lack of raw materials for manufacturing, or other periodic problems. Therefore, one of the actions that the company ought to undertake include increase in raw materials and also boosting and increase in confidence for the personnel (May and Spanos, 2006).

Another aspect that the management of Hi-Pro Performance Fly Rods has to consider as a corrective action is the involvement of staff and personnel. It is imperative to include and involve staff in order to make them feel part of the organization. What is more, the line of staff within the organization may at times have very good and effective ideas and conceptions regarding resolving the problems within the manufacturing process and operations. In addition, this is an action that is befitting for the company because by involving the personnel in resolving the issues, the executive team of Hi-Pro-will be able to gain their commitment (Holden, 2001). What is more, this particular action will be beneficial in the reduction of resistance from staff with respect to new strategies and practices which might have to be executed as part of the solution. The main benefit of this action to the operations of both nations is that there will be increased morale amongst the staff. When personnel are treated as an asset and with such importance and their input taken into account, confidence increases amidst every member of the team (Holden, 2001). In addition, there becomes improved longevity of the staff, which also enhances the experience attained. In addition, this action will improve team cohesion and at the same time generate increased productivity. In general, this will translate to increased and improved performance of the Argentina and New Zealand operations (Holden, 2001).

As shown in the diagram, the New Zealand operations fall below the acceptable low limit, which implies that it is underperforming. One of the recommended actions for Hi-Pro-includes setting the goals, objectives and standards to be clear to the personnel as to what is required of them. In addition, there is a need for alteration of workplace policies. This action is purposed to properly clarify to the personnel precisely what performance is expected of the operations. Another recommended action for the executive team is to assess the capabilities and proficiencies of the New Zealand operations. The underperformance of the operations can be linked to the lack of knowledge or skills required of the job and tasks expected of the staff. Another recommended action for the executive team is to make an assessment of the workplace environment in New Zealand to make certain that the poor performance that is less than the standard one is not as a result of the setting (Goetsch and Davis, 2014).

The performance of the United States operations go beyond the acceptable upper limit, which implies that the operations are over performing and having an adverse impact on the company. The recommendation for Hi-Pro's executive team is the distribution of resources and assets from the United States operations to other operations that are required (Berman, 2015). One of the reasons why the operations in the United States surpass the acceptable upper limit is due to having more than enough time, money, personnel and resources with respect to the required product capacity and amount. Another recommendation for the executive team is the enhancement of the expectations set. One of the reasons why the operations might be deemed to have an excessive performance is as a result of setting poor standards and lower goals and objectives. By enhancing them and setting higher standards, it implies the company will have performance that is standard (Berman, 2015).