Scissors MRP
MGT 305
You’re working as a summer intern in the scheduling department at a scissors manufacturer. The production coordinator is out sick and you’re in charge of the MRP system until she’s back. The vice president of sales has emailed you for details on what the factory’s plan will be for filling an upcoming 600 unit order of No. 55 Office Shears for a local office supply wholesaler. The order is due seven days from now.
Each No. 55 Office Shear includes a top assembly and a bottom assembly. A top assembly includes a bent plastic grip connected to a bent metal blade. A bottom assembly includes a straight plastic grip connected to a straight metal blade. A screw fastens the top and bottom assembly together.
There are 90 bent plastic grips, 150 straight blades, 350 bent blades, 20 top assemblies, and 45 bottom assemblies currently on hand.
Lead times are one day for final scissor assembly, one day for top and bottom assemblies, two days for metal blades, and five days for plastic grips. Lead time for screws is one day.
Respond to the vice president in a memo. Here are some issues to keep in mind:
The primary question on the vice president’s mind is: Will the order be completed on time? (The answer to this question is likely your first finding on page one).
Do not assume that your readers know the technical details of MRP systems. You will have to walk them through the details in your discussion section.
What are the key ‘givens? (consider housing them in a table). Also explain the key elements in your analysis that follows.
Show the product tree for No. 55 Office Shears. Explain what it means.
Develop MRP tables for each part in the product tree hierarchy. Take care to make the format for each table consistent so that they can easily be compared. Explain what you are doing. Show sample calculations.
After the individual MRP tables, consider a summary table that show Q (how many) and when the purchase orders must be released for each part in the hierarchy.
What is a conservative next step (CNS) based on your analysis? If the order will be late, what might we do to mitigate the issue? (e.g., concessions from customer, expedited shipments from supplier, etc).
What are the limitations of this analysis?
MGT 305 A7 Page 2 of 2
To impress, integrate lessons from the RQAs into your analysis. Lessons from RQA 2 apply to tables and figures. Lessons from RQAs 1, 3, and/or 4 might be particularly well placed in your discussions of recommendation and/or limitations (include citations).