ASSIGNMENT 2 (100 Marks) Refer to case study presented below and answer the questions in case requirements outlined at the end of the case study THE POLY CORPORATION THE INDUSTRY AND COMPANY BACKGROUND The Poly Corporation is a manufacturer of packaging materials for several food, medical, and industrial applications. The company buys raw materials from large plastics manufacturers in the United States, converts and prints the materials, and sells the finished products to large and small customers throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Most customers order custom-printed items displaying their name. In many cases, they have from 3 to 20 different types of items to be custom-printed. Companies that co-pack may also have several private labels for any number of their customers. Furthermore, with over 20 different raw material products to work with, the number of unique items supplied to even one customer can be in the hundreds. Because of the nature of the business, sales tend to be seasonal, with the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's holidays being the busiest. The holiday season creates the biggest potential for capacity problems. Conversely summer is the slowest period for Poly similar to Poly and some that are vertically integrated in the industry to some extent. The local and regional players in the field tend to be the most competitive on price, while those that are in the national arena do not compete on price. Without a concerted effort, Poly has established a reputation of very high-quality products. This is due, in part, to the quality of materials it uses Another reason is that Poly, being a young company, has had the benefit of acquiring state-of-the-art machinery, while others in the industry are getting by with antiquated and inefficient technology In the area of packaging materials where Poly competes, customers have traditionally looked for a high-quality product that performs well. In addition, many food companies rely on prompt delivery. Late deliveries of food packaging materials would cause the company's operations to shut down due to the inability to procure packaging materials elsewhere in a reasonable time. The industry is notorious for long lead times, less than adequate delivery, and being anything but customer-focused. While Poly does better than most in these areas, its general manager, Mr. Pine, believes that much improvement is possible. Because Poly is unable to compete on price, the issues of lead times, delivery, and customer focus will become increasingly important if Poly is to Page 10 of 15