Operational Analysis for a company called Housewares 2000 Bangkok, Thailand
In this project, our team will use the concepts and models learned in MGMT 66000 to perform an operational analysis on a company called Housewares 2000, a leading manufacturer and designer of wooden houseware items based in Bangkok, Thailand. The factory where they do all their manufacturing production is based in Sing Buri, which is approximately 2 hours drive from the capital city, Bangkok. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how businesses operate worldwide; therefore, we will be observing and analyzing the change and comparing how the company handled its operations pre-and post COVID-19. Most of the company’s sales and orders come from 90% export, where their customer base
lies mainly in major retailers, department stores, and HORECA in Europe, UK, USA, and Asia, while the other 10% are also major retailers in Thailand. The pandemic disrupted global supply chains and led to delays and shortages of raw materials and components, resulting in lower production capacity and inventory management issues.
Objectives for the Project
• Analyze the company’s operation strategy pre- and post-COVID-19 and compare the differences
• Pinpoint the operational challenges or issues faced
• Assess the impact and extent of how COVID-19 has affected the company
• Identify measures or initiatives taken by the company to alleviate the problems they face
• Evaluate the effectiveness of their initiatives
• Provide recommendations to improve operations for future references
Issues faced that link with the course topic • Inventory Management: stocking a larger number of SKUs to match customer’s demand and in case raw materials were unable to be sent from suppliers • Supply Chain Management: customers in various countries cancelling or reducing orders due to logistics reasons. Another example is the central distribution hub is based in China, which is heavily impacted by COVID-19, resulting in understaffed workers at the dock and not being able to find a sufficient number of containers for shipment. This led to a spiral of problems. • Waiting Time Analysis: increased waiting time between machines and overstock in the factory due to orders having to wait for other components to complete an entire order.
Method of Analysis
• Interviews: We will be interviewing the CEO and potential employees to gain additional insight and to gather information from many positions and points of views
• Company’s value stream mapping: to examine the flow of materials and to see how it has changed pre-and post-COVID-19
• Data provided by the company