Unifine Richardson Case

Executive Summary- This report will evaluate an analyze Unifine Richardson’s current purchasing strategy. The company currently purchases approximately one million pounds of honey per year. A majority of the purchased honey is a 50-50 blend of Chinese and Canadian honey. Unifine Richardson’s main honey supplier is Harrington Honey. Unfortunately, Harrington Honey has informed Unifine Richardson that they can no longer supply the company with honey from China. Harrington Honey’s decision to stop importing honey from China was based on China’s use of chloramphenicol, which is an antibiotic that is band for use in food-producing animals.As a result of the Harrington Honey’s decision to stop importing honey and not having secondary supplier, Rob Pincombe (Unifine Richardson’s purchasing manager) must make a decision on how to proceed. Because he does not have a secondary supplier which I think is the root of his problem, Rob has to make a decisio n based on the following analysis points: †¢He has a small window to make a decision †¢Honey expenditures make up 3 to 5 percent of the firms total expenditures †¢He must analyze the other import options oCanadian only will cost $1. 75/lb. oUS only will cost $1. 10/lb. US dollar) o50/50 Argentina/Canadian cost $1. 42/lb. ?US imposed a tariff tax on Argentina honey ?There’s a chance that the honey for Argentina may be recalled n by management. Recommendations discussed include: Problem Statement: In spite of meeting the company’s current delivery schedule, there are several issues that must be addressed by the Quality Assurance Director and the company’s other directors. As indicted by the General Manager there is, â€Å"lack of a quality attitude in the plant†. Because of that lack of quality Below are some of the identified issues; 1.Quality Processes are not being followed 2. Operations personnel are not properly trained to operate machin ery 3. Maintenance personnel are not performing the proper scheduled maintenance 4. Purchasing is not properly coordinating with the sales representatives. 5. Design and Packaging potentially developed a defective product, 6. Lack of coordination between manufacturing and the other department 7. Marketing poor coordination. These issues are reducing the quality of the product that’s being produced and probably costing the company a lot of money.Analysis Plans: For the analysis, a Strategic Factor Analysis Summary (SFAS) Matrix (Wheeler, 2011) will be used. This matrix will be used to identify the external and internal factors that are causing this company to produce products that are not meeting the desired specifications. Based on the data provide, the matrix will focused on the following factors: man, machine, materials, and methods. These factors appear to play a part in the product variations. Each factor will be weighed and ranked based on how the company responded to th e factor in the document.Assumptions/Other Data: B-Cycles are primarily locations are in downtown Denver, Cherry Creek and Denver University neighborhoods (Denver B Cycle, 2012). This case study is being generated under the assumption that if the rider does not live in these are primary locations of the bikes, they are commuters and they either commute via RTD or their private vehicles. So, the alternates cannot be fully eliminated from the equations. Conclusion – This company’s SFAS Matrix (Wheeler, 2011) weighted score is 2. 05 the average is score is 3. 0. This company is not paying attention to the factors that could lead to the production of a quality product. Based on the information provide, this company is more focused on meeting the order demand vice delivering a quality product. Employees are cutting corners and processes in order to meet the delivery schedules, there are no process related decisions being made. It appears that quality and safety come second to schedule The General Manager is the ultimate cause of these quality and safety oversights.His schedule is causing employees are taking shortcuts to meet it, which in turn, is causing variances that are leading to products that aren’t being product to the desired specification. Recommendation – My recommendations to Mr. Kolb are: 1. In the short term ensure that the over pressurize cans follow the proper process. If they require rework, for the safety of the employees he has to ensure that’s what happens no shortcut. 2. He has to bring his findings to the General Manager (GM), the GM may not have a clear understanding of how his schedule is effecting the entire plant. . I would recommend a Kaizen Event, that’s attended by all process owners from each business area. The groups can define their processes an identify how they impact other business areas. The group can make process improvements as needed Figure 1 Strategy Canvas of Alternatives to B-Cycle T able 1 Attributes for the Alternatives Figure 2 Strategy Canvas for B-Cycle Table 2 Attributes for B-Cycle Works Cited Denver B Cycle. (2012). Retrieved from Denver B Cycle: http://denver. bcycle. com/home. aspx Downtown Denver Bicycle Trends and Conditions: June 2012. 2012, Jun). Retrieved from http://www. downtowndenver. com/LinkClick. aspx? fileticket=O8RegjT0HAs%3D&tabid=566 Hertz Global Holdings INC. (2011, 12 31). 2011-12-31 Annual/10K Report. Retrieved from 2011-12-31 Annual/10K Report: http://ezproxy2. library. colostate. edu:2735/documents. php? compnumber=116020 Partnership’s, D. D. (2012). State of Downtown Denver. Retrieved from State of Downtown Denver: http://downtowndenver. com/LinkClick. aspx? fileticket=p%2bRv8bvTlF8%3d&tabid=538 Wheeler, J. D. (2011). Essenials of Strategic Management.