Adidas is a relatively new sportswear manufacturing company located in selangor . The manufacturer runs it business on two main product divisions - the seasonalyoga apparels (YGA) and sports utility wear (SUW). The company began operation in late December 2020 and has seen its sales grow concurrently with the increase in demand for fitness and health over its past year in business. Its General Manager, Rafael Federer, aims to maintain a profit proposition in adidas strategy to increase its competitiveness and market share in a long run. Adidas is organised on a traditional hierarchical structure with a top-down management style. The organisation chart below maps out the current model in place at the company: r ( General Manager Financial Controller Sales and Marketing Manager Operations Manager Human Resource Manager Technical Specialist Treasury Department Marketing Department SUW Production Recruitment Programming Department Accounting Sales YGA Compensation Department Department Production and Benefits Rafael Federer is planning to diversify the sports utility wear (SUW) division's product line into athleisure attires by mid-2022. SUW currently produces only sweatpants and sports-tops for its customers. The expansion plan would require adidas to implement several advanced manufacturing processes changes and to upgrade its cost accounting system from the current traditional costing method to activity-based costing. Adidas has an existing in-house, stand-alone inventory planning system (BIPS) which tracksall of the existing stocks in its warehouse. In-line with the expansion plan, the company's Technical Specialist, Ing Bee Man, recommends to develop an add-in warehouse management software system (BWMS) to help manage the potentially larger volume of daily warehousing tasks. Such investment would allow the production department and the design department to use the computerised scheduling and drafting systems in a more integrated manner. Rafael notes on the importance of having a complete understanding of the company's current financial and resource standing before rushing the decision to introduce the athleisure attires into the sales mix. The following managers were called for a meeting in mid-January to discuss further on the proposed expansion plan: Responsible for: production managers Operations Manager Tanjiro Kamado SUW Production Manager Mathan Das Production Team Members Partners Design designers Planning production planners Procurement procurement executives Production Line line supervisors Quality Control QC inspectors Warehouse warehouse supervisors Maintenance technicians costs analysts, financial analysts, bookkeepers Accounting Manager Mazni Rusli Sales Manager Eugene Oh SUW Production Partner - Design Jackson Wang SUW sales representatives new-product design teams The managers will need to draw up relevant financial and production information for discussion at the meeting beforehand. The SUW Production Partner Design has begun drafting the fashion design and requirements for the athleisure line last December. The portfolio is available to the relevant managers on the manufacturer's internal cloud storage system for direct access. To better understand the financial impact of the expansion plan on the SUW division, the Operations Manager, Tanjiro, have requested the SUW Production Manager, Mathan Das, to work with Mazni and her costs analysts to look into the effect of the advanced manufacturing processes changes and accounting system upgrades on the current traditional costing method. One of the costs analysts has noted on how having improved product quality would reduce the need for inventories. The analysts suggest the use of just-in-time (JIT) inventory initiatives together with the Total Quality Management (TQM) process as a cost reduction measure. (i) Is the analyst's opinion on TQM and improved product quality guaranteed? Why or why not? (2 marks) Would the use of JIT be suitable for adidas? (2 marks) ITOTAL 20 MARKSI Adidas is a relatively new sportswear manufacturing company located in selangor . The manufacturer runs it business on two main product divisions - the seasonalyoga apparels (YGA) and sports utility wear (SUW). The company began operation in late December 2020 and has seen its sales grow concurrently with the increase in demand for fitness and health over its past year in business. Its General Manager, Rafael Federer, aims to maintain a profit proposition in adidas strategy to increase its competitiveness and market share in a long run. Adidas is organised on a traditional hierarchical structure with a top-down management style. The organisation chart below maps out the current model in place at the company: r ( General Manager Financial Controller Sales and Marketing Manager Operations Manager Human Resource Manager Technical Specialist Treasury Department Marketing Department SUW Production Recruitment Programming Department Accounting Sales YGA Compensation Department Department Production and Benefits Rafael Federer is planning to diversify the sports utility wear (SUW) division's product line into athleisure attires by mid-2022. SUW currently produces only sweatpants and sports-tops for its customers. The expansion plan would require adidas to implement several advanced manufacturing processes changes and to upgrade its cost accounting system from the current traditional costing method to activity-based costing. Adidas has an existing in-house, stand-alone inventory planning system (BIPS) which tracksall of the existing stocks in its warehouse. In-line with the expansion plan, the company's Technical Specialist, Ing Bee Man, recommends to develop an add-in warehouse management software system (BWMS) to help manage the potentially larger volume of daily warehousing tasks. Such investment would allow the production department and the design department to use the computerised scheduling and drafting systems in a more integrated manner. Rafael notes on the importance of having a complete understanding of the company's current financial and resource standing before rushing the decision to introduce the athleisure attires into the sales mix. The following managers were called for a meeting in mid-January to discuss further on the proposed expansion plan: Responsible for: production managers Operations Manager Tanjiro Kamado SUW Production Manager Mathan Das Production Team Members Partners Design designers Planning production planners Procurement procurement executives Production Line line supervisors Quality Control QC inspectors Warehouse warehouse supervisors Maintenance technicians costs analysts, financial analysts, bookkeepers Accounting Manager Mazni Rusli Sales Manager Eugene Oh SUW Production Partner - Design Jackson Wang SUW sales representatives new-product design teams The managers will need to draw up relevant financial and production information for discussion at the meeting beforehand. The SUW Production Partner Design has begun drafting the fashion design and requirements for the athleisure line last December. The portfolio is available to the relevant managers on the manufacturer's internal cloud storage system for direct access. To better understand the financial impact of the expansion plan on the SUW division, the Operations Manager, Tanjiro, have requested the SUW Production Manager, Mathan Das, to work with Mazni and her costs analysts to look into the effect of the advanced manufacturing processes changes and accounting system upgrades on the current traditional costing method. One of the costs analysts has noted on how having improved product quality would reduce the need for inventories. The analysts suggest the use of just-in-time (JIT) inventory initiatives together with the Total Quality Management (TQM) process as a cost reduction measure. (i) Is the analyst's opinion on TQM and improved product quality guaranteed? Why or why not? (2 marks) Would the use of JIT be suitable for adidas? (2 marks) ITOTAL 20 MARKSI