Production Concerns for Business of Custom

Discuss about the Production Concerns for Business of Custom.

An endeavor as easy as buying furniture is an enjoyable experience. Regrettably, it quickly turns into more stressful, due to a number of reasons. Custom-made furniture is designed keeping in mind the space where it would be kept. It offers the flexibility which is missing in the standard furniture. To make the life easier as well as comfortable one just needs to give the requirement to the maker. This incredible benefit one cannot get from the store that is into the business of standard furniture. The level of versatility one wants in the furniture is purely dependent on the buyer. But the custom made furniture is readily available due to the various problems faced by them in this competitive world. Today, we will discuss the production system as well as processes used by Hawkesbury Cabinets Pty Ltd.

Hawkesbury Cabinets is into the business of Custom made kitchen cabinets since 2008. The company had gained high esteem in the initial years. The manufacturing was pushed to its limit but still it was not a profit making venture due to which the company had to go through various ups and downs and had changed their production strategies several times to make their survival in these competitive technologies. Their USP was their designs which were unique; quality of the material chosen was high and their craftsmanship. The products were made only on the orders (Rajagopalan, 2002). The designs had so much versatility, and they always tried to make the product as per the taste of the buyer. The products were made and delivered to the end user. The biggest advantage was that all the designs are unique as well as different in their own way so therefore there was no need to keep the inventory. Thus, wastage of resources was minimal. The production system although seem very convincing from the buyer end as they got what they need but faced so many problems internally. Some of the obstacles which forced them to change their strategy and adapt to the new production system are the uncertainty of orders, time involved in delivery the product, increased production cost, etc. In spite of all these problems the uniqueness of designs made them well-known which helped them in getting more orders and ultimately the firm started growing.

The new builder’s kitchen line cabinets brought in the low volume contracts which enforced the job shop production system as they have started making standardized cabinets which are produced in the small batches (Edwards, 2003). With the increase in the number of orders, the number of production problems also increased. Different direction, as well as the different material, is required to complete the contracts due to which there was uncertainty in the completion of orders. To efficiently tackle this problem management needed the flexible manufacturing equipment which can produce customized as well as standardized cabinets. With the change in machinery, the production system also changed which is known as the hybrid shop (Yan, 2008). The output will be modified with the combination of two or more forms. Assembly lines were located in the area of production. It has enhanced the production of work, but the problems of management increased manifold. The biggest problem was the manpower required for operating different machines and another hindrance was of scheduling of work on machines to get the desired results.

The quality of the Hawkesbury kitchen cabinets is held in high esteem due to which there were huge orders which were coming to the company. To meet the demand and supply the products on time the company has decided to work in the factory settings so that partially finished cabinets can be made which resulted in again shifting the working pattern (Miltenburg, 2008). The factory settings which proved beneficial for the production of standardized cabinets also had certain disadvantages folded inside it such as the requirement of the warehouse where they can store their inventory. To make it a profit making venture the co-ordination at all the different levels of production, inventory, as well as the distribution, has become the need of an hour.  The operations play the most important role as it is a multitask process which involves keeping an eye on the availability of raw material and resources, the inventory in hand as well as the capacity of production for completing the orders within the timeframe.  A strategic operational plan is required so that the primary focus of the business i.e. custom made kitchen cabinets is not lost in the race of standardized cabinets.  Custom made cabinets can give the perfect accent to the kitchen as they reflect the taste of the individual’s choice. These orders have high-profit margin, but the manufacturing capacity of the firm was pushed to its limit still the company was unable to make the profit (Chen & Lu, 2011). Thus, to earn profits, the company looked for other ventures due to which the production on standardized cabinets started. The standardized cabinets gives a ready-made solution which might suffice in some of the areas of a kitchen, purchasing the number of products for an entire kitchen might prove difficult as these are made according to the specification of the manufacturer rather than the dimensions of one’s kitchen. Hence, the strategy should be prepared keeping in mind the demand of end user along with the concerns of the production. To make the policy effective and different from the capacity, resources and competency of market various operational theories such as theory of constraints,  just-in-time and total quality management should be taken into consideration. Theory of constraints helps in focusing on the limitations of the production system whereas  Just-in-time theory focuses on lean manufacturing and lastly, the total quality management approach emphasize on producing the right output in the first time (Stoi & Kühnle, 2002).  Not only this, the objectives related to the cost and profit needs to be taken into consideration for better understanding the economic point of view. The overall performance of the business is largely dependent on the operational concerns as well as the revenue of the organization (Dyson, 2000). The profits for which the every business is struggling comes from the products which are in processing, the number of finished products as well as the cabinets which are lying in the warehouse in the form of inventory.  The custom made orders from the clients, the contract from the new builder’s kitchen helps in framing the strategy of the company which will help them in earning the profit.

Hawkesbury cabinets have changed their operations many times for making more profit. They became well-known with their custom made cabinets which were considered as a high-quality products due to their uniqueness of designs, quality of material chosen as well as the craftsmanship. But the orders were less and the lot of uncertainty due to which they accepted low volume contracts and started job shop production (Beecher, 2001).  The cabinets are made in small batches of one to five. The kitchen cabinets are prepared in standard sizes through a variety of options. Small manufacturing businesses often face enormous challenges in their way. This action increased the volume of inventory but brought with it some problems. The company had to spend not only on the warehouse for keeping the inventory but also on the machines which can successfully produce custom made as well as standardized products at the same time (Goh, Jihong, & Chung-Piaw, 2001). It has solved the existing troubles but led to the arrival of new problems such as the requirement of manpower and scheduling of jobs. An effective strategy is needed to enhance the performance of the organization which will in turn help in achieving the maximum revenue as well as resolving the organizational concerns (Milevski, 2014).

References:

Beecher, M. (2001). Promoting the "Unit Idea": Manufactured Kitchen Cabinets (1900-1950). APT Bulletin, 32(2/3), 27.

Chen, C. & Lu, C. (2011). Optimum profit model based on order quantity, product price, and process quality level. Expert Systems With Applications, 38(6), 7886-7893.

Dyson, R. (2000). Strategy, Performance and Operational Research. The Journal Of The Operational Research Society, 51(1), 5.

Edwards, K. (2003). Design for manufacturing: a structured approach. Materials & Design, 24(2), 157-158.

Goh, M., Jihong, O., & Chung-Piaw, T. (2001). Warehouse sizing to minimize inventory and storage costs. Naval Research Logistics, 48(4), 299-312.

Milevski, L. (2014). Grand Strategy and Operational Art: Companion Concepts and Their Implications for Strategy. Comparative Strategy, 33(4), 342-353.

Miltenburg, J. (2008). Setting manufacturing strategy for a factory-within-a-factory. International Journal Of Production Economics, 113(1), 307-323.

Rajagopalan, S. (2002). Make to Order or Make to Stock: Model and Application. Management Science, 48(2), 241-256. Stoi, R. & Kühnle, B. (2002). Theory of Constraints. CON, 14(1), 55-56.

Stoi, R. & Kühnle, B. (2002). Theory of Constraints. CON, 14(1), 55-56.

Yan, L. (2008). A New Hybrid Optimization Algorithm and Its Application in Job Shop Scheduling. Acta Automatica Sinica, 34(5), 604-608.

 

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