Light Up My Light, Inc.

At the weekly staff meeting the CEO thanked everyone for their response to the questions related to logistics and supportability analysis.

The CEO also commented ---

That {analysis} really helped me to see a different picture of our new product/system process. And --- gee, some of this logistics stuff is interesting. I can see why a person could get hooked on this.

I get the impression that time is of the essence. We want the logistics factors to be considered as early as possible. While I was out jogging last night (Mrs. Ennis regularly does a couple of 5 ks; 10 k's; and half-marathons each year) it struck me that maybe we should get more logistics involvement earlier in our product life-cycle. I mean the discussion a few weeks ago was kicked off by a simple report on planned additions & drops & changes to the product line. And we do that stuff regularly, like every quarter.

So, would you please let me know how we might get logistics planning involved earlier? Here are some specific questions. And I always try to end up with an open-ended opportunity for you to comment on points that I might not have thought of.

The meeting then went on to a discussion of the company party planned (hopefully) for around Thanksgiving.

These questions are logistics related. Naturally the senior logistician for LUML gets the honor of preparing the memo.

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Reminder. Other graded elements are not always directly asked for? And as academic work we are also looking to document any sources that you may have used. So, use references---APA format preferred for in-text and reference list.

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[Note. Probably a page or so on each question (not necessarily each part of the question) should be fine. If so inclined one could write a great deal on this topic and these questions. Some of the answers might benefit from a basic flow chart or figure of the steps you are describing.]

Q#1. LUML managers want to get logistics considerations into the design and development process as early as possible.

(a) Is that a good assessment of the goal? Why would LUML want to do that?

(b) What might such a process look like? Provide a flow diagram (rather than a zillion words) would be useful.

(.c.) Still, some explanation is also needed.

Q#2. What would LUML management hope to accomplish if LUML did such an analysis?

What might be the objectives?

Would it be prudent to also include fixtures that are being discontinued? Why?

******* BACKGROUND ********

The CEO made other comments in another part of the virtual staff meeting.

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CEO: The other night I was messing around with my computer. I came across an interesting video. It dealt with a problem --- a design deficiency to say the least -- for Kryptonite bike locks.

The Kryptonite Lock is not exactly cheap. When they first came out, they were close to $100; but the current price is closer to $30.

Because of the security that the lock provided, the company generally offered a guarantee to replace your bike (up to $2,000) if the bike was stolen when properly secured with their lock. New York City and a few other places were excepted! So, they must have been pretty sure that they had covered all the bases for risk.

After one look at the video, it is obvious that they missed at least one risk.

The owners of our fixtures are not likely to face a similar threat. Light fixtures are not typically locked for security. Nor are fixtures typically stolen such as a high value bike.

Of course, we do not know the risk identification and mitigation protocol that Kryptonite followed. Given their guarantee, one would tend to think that they did a pretty good risk analysis.

A few weeks ago, at LUML we had a discussion on how our fielding of new products does not always turn out as well as we would like. Several defects were identified in new products shortly after being offered for sale. Of course, that means that the customers were identifying the problem. It is bad enough when LUML internally ids a problem!

So apparently WHEN and HOW we discover a problem with one of our products is important.

***** END BACKGROUND ********

Textbook: Logistics Engineering and Management, Chapter 6: Logistics in System Design and Development

Please provide references!!!!