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mandarchougule
- Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2011 9:55 am
The following appeared in a memo to the President of Baby-And-Me Bread Company:
"Late last year we switched the supplier we use for bread bags in our Windy City bakery plant to AAA Plastics. This year we have seen over 5000 defects in bags and each defective bag causes a need to throw out the loaf of a bread. In our Bentonville bakery plant, where we use ZZZ Plastics, there have only been 1000 defects in our bread bags. Even though AAA plastics charge considerably less for their bread bags, we should switch our WIndy City Plant to ZZZ Plastics in order to save money. "
The President of Baby-And-Me bread company is concerned about the quality of the bags used in the bread factory at Windy City. As per author, the president, the quality of the bags used in Windy City Factory is poorer compared those used in the Bentonville Factory, because last year 5000 defects related to bags were observed at Windy City Factory, whereas only 1000 defects were observed at Bentonville Factory. The author further says that although cost of the bag used in Windy City factory, procured from AAA Plastics is less than cost of bag used in Bentonville factory, which is supplied by ZZZ Plastics, switching the bags at Windy City from AAA Plastics to ZZZ Plastics will yield savings. The argument by author is very weak due to many reasons and the reasons behind it have been mentioned below.
First of all, the author claims that the cost of bag from AAA Plastics is lower than the cost of bag from ZZZ Plastics. Author further claims that changing the bag used in Windy City Factory will lead to cost savings. It is difficult understand how using costly packing material will lead to savings. Maybe author would like to bring into consideration the cost savings brought by reduced wastage of bread as a result of reduced defects in bags. Nevertheless author needs to present the relevant cost benefit analysis in order to strengthen the argument.
Another major flaw in the argument is regarding the measurement of the defects in the bag. The author mentions that there were 5000 defects in the bags used at Windy City Factory against 1000 defects in bags used at Bentonville Factory. However author does not mention the total production at each of the factories. It might have been the case that the production at Windy City was more than 5 times that of in Bentonville. In such case, the bags used in Windy City prove to be superior than bags used in the Bentonville. In order to bring further clarity in this regard, author needs to use proper unit of measurement for measuring defects such as no. of defects per 1000 breads produced. Moreover the argument solely relies on the data of last year. The validity of argument can be brought into question by bringing in the past data about defects at Bentonville.
Further to add the author assumes that the machinery used in the Windy City is performing at the same efficiency as the one in Bentonville. It could be the case that the machinery in the Windy City factory is responsible for higher defects while the plastics bags used are of the good quality. Thus in order to substantiate his claim author needs to present the root cause analysis behind the higher number of defects at the Windy City factory.
Thus the argument has several weaknesses. In order to make the argument stronger, author needs to present the measurement of defects in proper units that will make the defects at both of the factories comparable. Also author needs to present the cost benefit analysis to prove that strategy of using bags from ZZZ Plastics will yield savings. Finally root cause analysis is essential to identify the reason behind higher number of damages at Windy City factory.
"Late last year we switched the supplier we use for bread bags in our Windy City bakery plant to AAA Plastics. This year we have seen over 5000 defects in bags and each defective bag causes a need to throw out the loaf of a bread. In our Bentonville bakery plant, where we use ZZZ Plastics, there have only been 1000 defects in our bread bags. Even though AAA plastics charge considerably less for their bread bags, we should switch our WIndy City Plant to ZZZ Plastics in order to save money. "
The President of Baby-And-Me bread company is concerned about the quality of the bags used in the bread factory at Windy City. As per author, the president, the quality of the bags used in Windy City Factory is poorer compared those used in the Bentonville Factory, because last year 5000 defects related to bags were observed at Windy City Factory, whereas only 1000 defects were observed at Bentonville Factory. The author further says that although cost of the bag used in Windy City factory, procured from AAA Plastics is less than cost of bag used in Bentonville factory, which is supplied by ZZZ Plastics, switching the bags at Windy City from AAA Plastics to ZZZ Plastics will yield savings. The argument by author is very weak due to many reasons and the reasons behind it have been mentioned below.
First of all, the author claims that the cost of bag from AAA Plastics is lower than the cost of bag from ZZZ Plastics. Author further claims that changing the bag used in Windy City Factory will lead to cost savings. It is difficult understand how using costly packing material will lead to savings. Maybe author would like to bring into consideration the cost savings brought by reduced wastage of bread as a result of reduced defects in bags. Nevertheless author needs to present the relevant cost benefit analysis in order to strengthen the argument.
Another major flaw in the argument is regarding the measurement of the defects in the bag. The author mentions that there were 5000 defects in the bags used at Windy City Factory against 1000 defects in bags used at Bentonville Factory. However author does not mention the total production at each of the factories. It might have been the case that the production at Windy City was more than 5 times that of in Bentonville. In such case, the bags used in Windy City prove to be superior than bags used in the Bentonville. In order to bring further clarity in this regard, author needs to use proper unit of measurement for measuring defects such as no. of defects per 1000 breads produced. Moreover the argument solely relies on the data of last year. The validity of argument can be brought into question by bringing in the past data about defects at Bentonville.
Further to add the author assumes that the machinery used in the Windy City is performing at the same efficiency as the one in Bentonville. It could be the case that the machinery in the Windy City factory is responsible for higher defects while the plastics bags used are of the good quality. Thus in order to substantiate his claim author needs to present the root cause analysis behind the higher number of defects at the Windy City factory.
Thus the argument has several weaknesses. In order to make the argument stronger, author needs to present the measurement of defects in proper units that will make the defects at both of the factories comparable. Also author needs to present the cost benefit analysis to prove that strategy of using bags from ZZZ Plastics will yield savings. Finally root cause analysis is essential to identify the reason behind higher number of damages at Windy City factory.
