Tom and Mason Miller: Delivery Problems and Customer Complaints - Essay Sample

Introduction

Tom and Mason Miller are being faced with the delivery problems of their products. They could no longer meet the delivery time their customers expect. Their products take longer than expected to be ultimately attracting a lot of complaints from the customers. Previously, the orders took three weeks to be delivered, but this has changed to around 4 to 5 weeks inconveniencing their customers since it leads to disruption of their production schedules. They are also faced with an issue in their production process where bottlenecks were occurring during the production process. The primary concern about this was the company's inability to predict when and where the bottlenecks occurred as the bottlenecks seemed to be moving from one operation to another. The company had also seen two of their orders, which had been delivered were returned to the company due to the number of defective parts they had tarnishing the company's reputation. The changing business environment had also led to a decline in the orders for multiple molds denying the company a lot of revenue they had been receiving from the sales. These problems had been making the company decline in its production, reducing the profits.

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Competitive Priorities and Changing Nature of The Industry

Custom Molds invested considerably in its manufacturing process emerging as a company producing precision molds. Their precision in making the molds acted as their main competitive advantage. The company built its reputation as a designer and fabricator of precision molds, giving them an excellent competing edge among its competitors. Through this, they could get more customers hence make more profits. However, when the business environment changed, they started experiencing problems making them receive several customers' complaints. The electronic manufacturers were no more extended manufacturing their own component parts, and instead, we're partnering with other companies to supply the parts they needed. This was aimed at acquiring high-quality parts at a lower cost delivered at the right time. It would make the electronic companies direct funds on other uses, which would provide a more substantial return on investment. The decision to partner with other companies changed the business environment making the Custom Molds Company feel the impact on their changing sales mix. Although the number of orders for the mold fabrications remained the same for Custom Molds, even after the change in business, an impact was felt in the declining orders for multiple molds.

Alternatives for The Millers and Factors to Consider While Evaluating the Alternatives

Since the Millers were experiencing difficulties in manufacturing the molds, which were also receiving a reduced number of orders than before, the Millers can switch to plastic parts production, which on the other hand, was receiving larger orders than before. Switching to the manufacture of plastic parts will enable the company to handles large orders which they were received on time. They may also decide to work on their precision and speed to avoid complaints on defective molds delivered and the time taken for the delivery to be made. This will help them gain customers' approval and trust, which they were losing with the problems they were facing. For any of the alternatives to work efficiently, some factors must be put into consideration. The Millers must consider customer satisfaction as their primary aim to reduce the complaints received. Also, they should consider the future business environment. Planning into the future will help the company foresee future happenings hence taking the necessary adjustments to avoid being obsolete. When they plan correctly and satisfy the customers' needs, they will be in business for long without losing their customers.

Chad's Daily Decisions

Chad's Creative Concepts has developed an excellent reputation leading to increased sales and orders for both standard and custom furniture. The development has subjected the owner of the company, Chad Thomas, with several decisions to make daily to ensure the success of the company. Some of the choices are not easy to make but are very important for the proper functioning of the company. First, Chad has to decide the furniture produced daily and assign each piece to his workers. From the time he decided to venture on standard furniture which is sold by the retailers, a lot of work has accumulated in the company as there are not enough machines and workers to do the job. As a result, Chad has to decide which work is given priority. He also has to decide on the designs to use to ensure the success of the company in the long run since the models will help in attracting more customers.

Effects of Standard Furniture's Sales and Marketing on Company's Operations

When the company decided to venture into standard furniture, the company's reputation grew, and sales increased. However, this was at a cost as the custom and the standard furniture competed for processing time on the same equipment by the same craft people. This affected the company's operations since a lot of work was left without completion. As a result, a lot of dollars were tied to the incomplete works preventing the company from making the maximum profits. The venture also led to increased lead times for both standard and custom orders causing long-promised delivery times. This made customs wait for long before their orders were completed. Since priority was given to the custom furniture because of the high sales and profit margins, many standard furniture orders could not be completed on time, which may lead to the customers losing trust in the company.

Effects of Standard Furniture on the Company's Financial Structure

Even though the sales of standard furniture were low at the beginning, Chad says that it has been increasing steadily. This means the company makes more profits than before. However, Chad claims that the profits are not what they should be. A lot of dollars have been tied to incomplete works, which are mainly standard furniture. The cost associated with standard furniture is also rising, thereby reducing the profits. A lot of cash is also spent on renting a public warehouse to accommodate the increasing volume of inventory. All these costs are associated with standard furniture making the venture to hold a lot of money, preventing the company from making maximum profits. Therefore, despite increasing sales and profits, the venture has also held a lot of revenue, which, when released, will lead to the company making very good profits.

Preventing the Problems

Chad had two options when he was venturing on the standard furniture, which was to either forgo the opportunity or set a different company that would deal with the manufacture of standard furniture alone. Forgoing the opportunity would have resulted in no extra costs in machines and workers. He would have been dealing with the custom furniture whose sales are still strong, as he said. However, if he would have considered the other option, it would have required an extra cost for setting up the new company with new machines and workers. He would have benefited from both sales of which the custom furniture is doing well and the standard ones gaining momentum. Both options would have helped him avoid the problems he is facing of renting a warehouse, incomplete works, and longer waiting times for customers. Combining the two different designs was a wrong move.