Pre$-$seen Case Study

$1+1=3$ Tech Ltd$.$

Background information:

$1+1=3$ Tech Ltd$.$ is a fictitious, small enterprise, based in Birmingham, UK$.$ The company employs around $25$ people. Its mission statement is:

$$To provide Synergy$-$Driven Innovation: SMART solutions for a Better Tomorrow$.$

The organisation was founded on strong ethical values and sustainability inspired by United Nations Act Now $($a campaign for individual action on climate change and sustainability see Act Now $|$ United Nations$).$

Currently located in Birmingham Science Park but some initial negotiations with Birmingham City University$$s STEAM house for a possible move and expansion of premises has begun.

Current Products and Services.

$1+1=3$ Tech Ltd provide SMART products for industrial applications including monitoring and control of Electric Vehicle charging points and heating systems. They have recently secured contracts with E$.$ ON and NHS England and have a turnover $2\mathrm{.}4$ Million.

They design and manufacture SMART electronics inhouse but outsource high volume production to China. Based on uncertainty around internet accessibility, data protection and trade tariffs, they are considering moving volume manufacturing from China to Malaysia.

Organisation Structure.

History Timeline:

Current Situation

Sasha Lee is aiming to maximise value and reduce operating costs to then sell the business after $3-5$ years. Sasha is keen to continue the digital transformation of the organisation to maximise its value.

In $2022,$ upon advice from McCampbell Consulting, an MRP System was installed by a previous project manager MRP ERP Software $-123$insight manufacturing system

McCambell Consulting were recently invited back in to review progress. Here is a summary of their findings:

$$The MRP implementation has not delivered the expected improvements in inventory waste, increased productivity, and delivery performance. The main reasons for this are attributed to the continuation of labour intensive, manual inventory management processes that are prone to error. For example, component deliveries are manually entered ad hoc; work in progress and production status is unknown; finished stock and status of product shipped from China is inaccurate.

Overall, $1+1=3$ Tech Ltd$.$ is missing real time inventory management to be able to benefit from the recently installed MRP system. Our recommendation is to urgently select and implement an inventory management system that can help automate transfer of stock, update shop floor data and provide real time statistics working alongside an MRP system.$$

Sasha is very emotional and flew in from USA to have a heated discussion with Jaz and yourself. Sasha thinks $123$Insight MRP was a waste of their money and should start from scratch after reading this article from Xero.com Inventory Management $|$ Guide to Inventory $|$ Xero UK

One of our own design engineers, Aisha, spoke to Sasha during this recent visit and offered to develop a bar code scanning system that could be used to update the $123$Insight MRP system with stock deliveries, booking out, assembly and finished goods status as they had previously done something similar in previous employment.

Jaz has hired YOU as a project manager to review the issues, select a software solution and provide a Project Plan for the implementation of an Inventory Management System that works alongside the MRP$.$

Resource Constraints:

$$YOU are the Project Manager and any other duties as required.

$$Jaz King, Managing Director.

$$Manufacturing Coordinator x $1.$

$$Purchasing Supervisor x $1.$

$$Stores Supervisor x $1.$

$$Design Engineers x $3.$

$$All other employees are involved in manufacturing, packing and any other duties as required.

Annual salary

Managing Director

$75,000$

Project Manager $($You$)$

$40,000$

Manufacturing Manager

$40,000$

Purchasing Supervisor $30,000$

Stores Supervisor $25,000$

Design Engineers $45,000$

Various employees UK Living Wage$*$

$*$ What is the real Living Wage? $|$ Living Wage Foundation

Answer all questions.

Question One: Strategic Management

The intervention of the owner into the current situation has created tension between Sasha and Jaz. Sasha has accused Jaz of $$making it up as we go along$,$ which is completely against Sasha$$s philosophy of strategic management. Sasha has a more considered approach to strategic management. Jaz however has argued that $$these things take time, and we$$re developing as we go along$.$

a$)$Identify and explain the strategy that Sasha seems to prefer. $9$ marks. $(2$ marks for identifying strategy, $7$ marks for explanation.$)$

b$)$Provide $2$ advantages and $2$ disadvantages associated with this type of strategy. $20$ marks. $(5$ marks for each advantage$/$ disadvantage.$)$

c$)$Is this strategic approach suitable for $1+1=3$ Tech Ltd$.$ Provide $2$ arguments for the conclusion that you have reached $15$ marks. $(5$ marks for conclusion. $5$ marks for each persuasive argument$).$