Scenario

The following chart displays the results of the first year's production of the, Lacks Tracks Cycles, an electric-powered chopper-style motorcycleproducedby Lacks Tracks Cycles to compete with Harley-Davidson's Electra Glide. The metrics table below was created from data supplied by Lacks Tracks Cycles five (5) plants. The purpose of the table is to providedata for management to decide what controls and actions are needed to increase production efficiency.

You recently joined the Lacks Tracks Cycles' headquarters staff as a quality assurance associate. Your manager has requested you to analyze the first year's motorcycle production results. This informationwill be used bymanagement to evaluate and improve overall productionefficiency.

Lacks Tracks Cycles is known for producing high-quality products at reasonable prices. They plan to compete against Harley's top-end model by developingsuperior production efficiencythat will allow them to price significantlybelow Harley Davidson's Electra Glide model.

The chart below lists the desiredproductionstandards and the actual production metrics for each stage of the electric motorcycle's manufacturing process that must be completed to determine the overallproductionefficiency at each of Lacks Tracks Cycles'five (5) production facilities.

A comparison of the production standard to the actual production outcomes using all the relevantmetricsallows management to determine which of its facilities is the most efficientproducerof the electric motorcycle. This knowledge will help Lacks Tracks Cycles' management team to determine what controls need to be put into place at their various production plants to match the productionefficiencyof their most efficientplant. More efficiencymeans higher productionat lower per unit (cycle) costs.

Metrics	Standard	Maryland	Delaware	NewJersey	Texas	Alaska
Total Cost to Manufacture (per unit)	13,500	15,250	14,100	12,750	16,000	14,250
Manufacturing Cycle Time (time to complete a single vehicle - in hours)	15	18	16	12	12	14
Yield (percentage of cars produced to specifications first time without rework)	98%	99%	97%	96.50%	97.50%	95.15%
Defective Rate/Recall Rate	2%	1%	3%	3.50%	2.50%	4.85%
Scrap Rate	2%	3%	4%	2.50%	2%	1.90%
Average Production Downtime	0.50%	1%	1.50%	0.75%	0.50%	0.75%
Training Time (hours per month)	8	6	3	5	7	4
Shipping Problems/Damage (per 10,000 units)	1	2	4	2	1	3
Safety Incident per Employee	1.50%	2.25%	0.75%	3%	2%	1.90%
Number of units manufactured per year	45,000	43,000	27,000	42,500	48,000	45,500
Utilization Rate (Capacity rate facility is utilizing during available production time)	81.82%	78.18%	49.09%	77.27%	87.27%	82.73%

Use only the BOLDED centered and left-justified headings to write your paper.

Introduction

• Write an Introduction paragraph.The introduction paragraph is the first paragraph of the paper and will describe to the reader the intent of the paper, explaining the main points covered in the paper. This intent should be understood before reading the remainder of the paper so the reader knows exactly what is being covered in the paper. The introduction is often written after the paper is completed. (Use in-text citations, as needed, and include the references in the Reference section.)

The body of the paper will cover the following:

Controls

what control means in a business setting. (Use headings below and in-text citations as required.)

• why Lacks Tracks must be concerned with the actual production metrics at its plants. (Use headings below and in-text citations as required.)

Control Defined

Importance of Lacks Tracks Production Metrics

Standard Specifications

• Compare the metrics table standards to the actual performance outcomes at each of the five (5) plants and explain your findings for each plant. (Use headings below and in-text citations, as appropriate.)
• Identify the four (4) most important and common deviations from the standards among the plants and explain why this data is important to Lacks Tracks management. (Use headings below and in-text citations, as appropriate.)
• Using course materials, identify and explain two (2) types of controls that could be used by Lacks Tracks management to attempt to correct the deviations from standards at its plants. (Use headings below and in-text citations, as appropriate.)

Metrics Table Plant Performance Comparisons

Four Most Significant Deviations

Two Recommended Controls

Total Quality Management

• why implementing a Total Quality Management (TQM) program could improve operational efficiency at Lacks Tracks. (Use in-text citations, as appropriate.)