work in the form of an official recommendation to your colleagues and executives (2 - 4 pages). You are the Operations & Supply Chain lead at "Fidget-Widget", a new start-up company with the objective to create the most innovative fidget devices on the market. The marketing department has done extensive customer research and concluded that your target market is young working professionals who will pay a premium for a high-quality product. 1. Create a theoretical "house of quality" to help inform your design decisions and guide your collaboration with marketing. For this exercise, assume you have 1 competitor in the market who is focused on low-cost fidget spinners. The marketing team has a conceptual design prepared, and they have enlisted your help to ensure it can be operationalized. You have taken the design to the research and development team, who has provided some information on expected component reliability and defect costs (Appendix A) 2. Calculate the expected widget (system) reliability using the component reliabilities provided 3. Using the Taguchi loss function, find the break-even tolerance for Spinner Part 2 Once the final design is approved, it will be time to select a sourcing strategy and a distribution center location. Your colleagues have provided data on expected sales by city, as well as manufacturing and distribution center costs (Appendix B). 4. Using the center of gravity method, find the ideal region for your first distribution center 5. Using a break-even analysis, select the best manufacturing strategy for your product Appendix A - Reliability Data Design Prototype for "Fidget-Widget 1.0" Casing P = 0.98 Spinner Part 1 P = 0.8 Spinner Part 2 P = 0.89 Wheel P = 0.96 The research and development team has determined that the component most likely to lead to customer complaints and returns is Spinner Part 2. They have shared the below quality and specification data. Specification Data for the Fidget-Widget Parameter Desired width of Spinner Part 2 Customer return threshold Cost of a customer return Cost to resolve defects when found Result 0.250 inches 0.05 inches $12.00 $3.00 Appendix B - Sales and Manufacturing Data The sales team has signed retailers in 4 major cities and has provided you with an overview of expected sales forecasts in the first year of distribution. Fidget-Widget will also be selling online through their own website, but executives have decided to focus the supply chain strategy on retailers for year 1. Distribution and Sales information for the Fidget-Widget City Toronto Montreal Vancouver Ottawa Online Sales (Throughout Canada) Expected Year 1 Sales 2200 1400 900 850 1200 Your logistics analyst has reviewed many distribution centers and provided you with three sites that will be able to meet your service and cost expectations. She has asked you which of these you recommend. Potential sites for Distribution Center Location Mississauga Winnipeg Cornwall x-coordinate 79.64W 97.14W 74.73W y-coordinate 43.59N 49.90N 45.02N Your operations analyst has reached out to several contract manufacturers as well as analyzed the expected costs of launching an in-house manufacturing site. She has provided the following information to help you decide on a sourcing strategy. As a new start-up, you'd like to focus on minimizing your total Year 1 production costs. Sourcing Cost Analysis Fixed Costs (Launch, Contract) Variable Costs (per unit produced) In-House Facility $47,000 $8.50 Lowest-Cost Outsourcing Site $2,500 $11.50