Reference no: EM133836843
Homework: Project Guidelines
Overview
The project in this course will consist of a comprehensive location justification report.
As organizations expand, project managers apply supply chain management concepts to inform their recommendations specific to international initiatives. Factors such as location constraints, manufacturing and warehousing strategies, and quality best practices are all considerations that drive an international expansion project forward. This course will cover supply chain management concepts that align with the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM). Your goal in this homework is to deliver a location justification report that recommends the location of a new facility for an organization seeking to expand internationally. In addition, you will be recommending the most appropriate supply chain management processes for the new facility in both manufacturing and warehousing and defending those recommendations.
For this project, you will select one organization from the following three options:
A. Caterpillar (CAT)
B. Walmart (WMT)
C. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT)
The organization you select is seeking to expand internationally to either Russia or South Korea. You are tasked with recommending one country that will house a new manufacturing/warehousing facility. It is presumed that the warehouse will be at the same site as the manufacturing facility. Note that for this project you should use the existing product that the organization you select currently offers. (You do not need to come up with a new product). Since these organizations may offer a variety of products or services, narrow it down by selecting a high-level product line (e.g., food products, industrial equipment, electronics, communications, etc.). If you select NTT Group, which provides a service, focus on the product required to provide that service.
The project is divided into three milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Three, Five, and Seven. The submission is due in Module Nine.
In this homework you will demonstrates your mastery of the following course outcomes:
A. Analyze current business planning functions of an expanding organization for informing organizational logistics that reduce cost and increase delivery across the supply chain
B. Recommend an international facility location for an expanding organization based on the application of the factor rating method
C. Determine various constraints associated with international facilities for promoting continuous transition of manufactured products through supply chain management systems
D. Recommend appropriate warehousing strategies that promote cost savings and meet customer needs in an international organization
E. Recommend best practices to effectively manage logistics within the international supply chain of an expanding organization
Prompt
For this homework, you will create a location justification report that recommends the location of a new manufacturing and warehouse facility for an organization that is expanding internationally. In the report, you will recommend and defend manufacturing and warehousing supply chain management strategies for this new facility.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
A. Organization Analysis: In this section, you will analyze an organization's current business planning functions to help inform the logistics of a new international facility.
a. Identify the material requirement planning system being used by the organization, and explain how this system is currently being utilized to reduce cost and increase delivery across the supply chain.
b. Explain how forecasting, capacity planning, and scheduling are being used as planning functions within the current system mentioned above, using specific examples.
c. Explain how the organization can use current planning functions to reduce investments in preparation of an international expansion, using specific examples.
B. Facility Location: In this section, you will recommend the location site for the organization's new international facility. You will use the factor rating method to support your recommendation.
a. Determine the most important factors that will affect your location decision, and explain why each is important from an international supply chain management perspective.
b. Assign a weight to each factor according to its priority to the organization, and explain why you ranked each factor in this manner.
c. Recommend the preferred location of the new facility and support your recommendation with findings from the factor rating method.
C. Constraints: In this section, you will consider various constraints associated with your recommended location. In addition, you will identify the most appropriate system to help minimize the impact these constraints will have on the operation of the new facility.
a. Determine potential bottlenecking issues within the selected system, and explain how these could be avoided.
b. Determine transportation constraints that may exist in the recommended facility location, and explain how the organization could minimize the impact of these constraints.
c. Determine if a push or pull system is more appropriate for operating the new facility, and explain how the previously identified constraints influence this decision.
D. Warehousing Strategies: In this section, you will recommend warehousing strategies that promote cost savings of the new facility and will meet customer needs in your recommended location.
a. Recommend industry standard methods that the organization should use to efficiently operate its warehouse, and explain how this approach can promote cost savings for the organization.
b. Explain how the recommended methods meet customer needs at the new facility location, using specific examples.
c. Explain the benefits of having the warehouse in the same location as the manufacturing facility, including how this will help to promote cost savings and meet customer needs.
E. Quality Best Practices: In this section, you will recommend best practices aimed toward effectively managing logistics of the new international facility that will ensure process quality.
a. Determine appropriate quality best practices that should be used to manage logistics related to manufacturing, and explain why this is appropriate for the new facility.
b. Determine appropriate quality best practices that should be used to manage logistics related to warehousing, and explain why this is appropriate for the new facility.
c. Defend how these combinations of best practices promote process quality across the entire facility, using specific examples.
Milestones
These homeworks will ensure timely and effective progress toward the completion of your project.
Milestone I: Organization Analysis and Facility Location
In Module Three, you will respond to questions regarding the organization's current planning systems and potential international facility location. This is intended to help you get started with the critical elements for the project. Responding to the guided questions will help you begin to develop ideas about course concepts in relation to the Organization Analysis and Facility Location critical elements within your project.
Milestone II: Constraints
In Module Five, you will respond to questions regarding the constraints associated with bottlenecking issues and transportation. This is intended to help you get started with the critical elements for the project. Responding to the guided questions will help you begin to develop ideas about course concepts in relation to the Constraints critical elements within your project.
Milestone III: Warehousing Strategies
In Module Seven, you will respond to questions regarding potential warehousing strategies. This is intended to help you get started with the critical elements for the project. Responding to the guided questions will help you begin to develop ideas about course concepts in relation to the Warehousing Strategies critical elements within your project.
Submission: Location Justification Report
In Module Nine, you will submit your complete location justification report, which includes Quality Best Practices critical elements. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the product. This project should reflect the incorporation of feedback you have received throughout the course.