Inventory Control Essay Example for Free

Inventory Control Essay Read the case study below â€Å"Harvey Industries†. Provide reasoning for the current financial distress of the company and make recommendations for improvements to the new company president. Include at least one specific recommendation for both Supply Chain Management (chapter 15) and Inventory Management (chapter 13), as well as any other recommendations you deem necessary from your reading. Provide your recommendations in a 2-4 page APA style paper. Harvey Industries Background Harvey Industries, a Wisconsin company, specializes in the assembly of high-pressure washer systems and in the sale of repair parts for these systems. The products range from small portable high-pressure washers to large industrial installations for snow removal from vehicles stored outdoors during the winter months. Typical uses for high-pressure water cleaning include: AutomobilesAirplanes Building maintenanceBarns EnginesIce cream plants Lift trucksMachinery Swimming pools Industrial customers include General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Delta Airlines, United Parcel Service, and Shell Oil Company. Although the industrial applications are a significant part of its sale, Harvey Industries is primarily an assembler of equipment for coin operated self-service car wash systems. The typical car wash is of concrete block construction with an equipment room in the center, flanked on either side by a number of bays. The cars are driven into the bays where the owner can wash and wax the car, utilizing high-pressure hot water and liquid wax. A dollar bill changer is available to provide change for the use of the equipment and the purchase of various products from dispensers. The products include towels, tire cleaner, and upholstery cleaner. In recent years Harvey Industries has been in financial difficulty. The company has lost money for three of the last four years, with the last year’s loss being $17,174 on sales of $1,238,674.  Inventory levels have been steadily increasing to their present levels of $124,324. The company employs 23 people with the management team consisting of the following key employees: president, sales manager, manufacturing manager, controller, and purchasing manager. The abbreviated organization chart reflects the reporting relationship of the key employees and the three individuals who report directly to the manufacturing manager. Current Inventory Control System The current inventory control â€Å"system† consists of orders for stock replenishment being made by the stockroom foreman, the purchasing manager, or the manufacturing manager whenever one of them notices that the inventory is low. An order for replenishment of inventory is also placed whenever someone (either a customer or an employee in the assembly area) wants an item and it is not in stock. Some inventory is needed for the assembly of the high-pressure equipment for the car wash and industrial applications. There are current and accurate bills of material for these assemblies. The material needs to support the assembly schedule are generally known well in advance of the build schedule. The majority of inventory transactions are for repair parts and for supplies used by the car washes, such as paper towels, detergent, and wax concentrate. Because of the constant and rugged use of the car wash equipment, there is a steady demand for the various repair parts. The stockroom is well organized, with parts stored in locations according to each vendor. The number of vendors is relatively limited, with each vendor generally supplying many different parts. For example, the repair parts from Allen Bradley, a manufacturer of electrical motors, are stocked in the same location. These repair parts will be used to provide service for the many electrical motors that are part of the high-pressure pump and motor assembly used by all of the car washes. Because of the heavy sales volume of repair parts, there are generally two employees working in the stockroom- a stockroom foreman who reports to the manufacturing manager and an assistant to the foreman. One of these two employees will handle customer orders. Many customers stop by and order the parts and supplies they need. Telephone orders are also received and are shipped by United Parcel Service the same day. The assembly area has some inventory stored on the shop floor. This inventory consists of low-value  items that are used every day, such as nuts, bolts, screws, and washers. These purchased items do not amount to very much dollar volume throughout the year. Unfortunately, oftentimes the assembly area is out of one of these basic items and this causes a significant amount of downtime for the assembly lines. Paperwork is kept to a minimum. A sales slip listing the part numbers and quantities sold to a customer is generally made out for each sale. If the assembly department needs items that are not stocked on the assembly floor, someone from that department will enter the stockroom and withdraw the necessary material. There is no paperwork made out for the items needed on the assembly floor. There were 973 different part numbers purchased for stock last year and those purchases amounted to $314,673. An analysis of inventory records shows that $220,684 was spent on just 179 of the part numbers. Fortunately for Harvey Industries, most of the items they purchase are stocked by either the manufacturer or by a wholesaler. When it is discovered that the company is out of stock on an item, it generally takes only two or three days to replenish the stock. Due to the company’s recent losses, its auditing firm became concerned about the company’s ability to continue in business. Recently the company sold off excess vacant land adjoining its manufacturing facility to generate cash to meet its financial obligations. New President Because of the recent death of the owner, the trust department of a Milwaukee Bank (as trustee for the estate) has taken over the company’s affairs and has appointed a new company president. The new president has identified many problem areas- one of which is improper inventory control. He has retained you as a consultant to make specific recommendations concerning a revised inventory control system. What are your recommendations and rationale? Harvey Industries is a Wisconsin company that specializes in the assembly of high-pressure washer systems and in the sale of repair parts for these systems. With the recent death of the owner, the trust department of a Milwaukee Bank, the trusty for the estate, has taken over the company’s affairs and has appointed a new company president who has identified many problem areas such as improper inventory control and has asked me as a consultant to make specific recommendations concerning a revised inventory  control system. After reviewing the company’s current inventory control I would recommend that it would be very important for them to establish good communication with the supply chain because they need to know what the demand would be for each of the parts so that they can forecast the needs so that they can plan ahead and order the necessary materials and supplies do that they do not have to wait three days for the messing parts. Currently the inventory control â€Å"system† consists of orders for stock replenishment being made by the stockroom foreman, the purchasing manager, or the manufacturing manager whenever one of them notices that the inventory is low. An order for replenishment of inventory is also placed whenever someone (either a customer or an employee in the assembly area) wants an item and it is not in stock. I would recommend changing this system, they need to establish the number of parts that would be needed in a weekly basis and replenish as the item is used so that they do not run out of the necessary parts and supplies. The company currently employs 23 people with the management team consisting of the following key employees: president, sales manager, manufacturing manager, controller, and purchasing manager. The abbreviated organization chart reflects the reporting relationship of the key employees and the three individuals who report directly to the manufacturing manager. I would recommend having different departments manufacturing, sales department for repair parts and sales department for supplies. All three departments need to be in communication with the purchasing manager that will need to be informed in order to make all the necessary purchases to maintain an appropriate inventory for all three departments. This will help save the company some money on payroll. I would also recommend that the inventory for the manufacturing department be kept in the warehouse as well as the other items that way there can be more control on the parts that go out so that they can be promptly replenish. Currently the stockroom is well organized, with parts stored in locations according to each vendor. The number of vendors is relatively limited, with each vendor generally supplying many different parts. However they could also separate the parts and supplies per department so that it would be easier to find and less man power would be needed creating a saving in payroll and payroll taxes. References Stevenson, W.J. (2011). Operations management (11th Ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill/Irwin

Determination †A Learned Trait :: Personal Narrative Experience Essays

Determination – A Learned Trait For some odd reason, the Bolivian military has a tendency to make people grow up. I was almost 18 when I was recruited, but it seems like I wasn’t much more mature than a 13 year old teenager; not that I was much older. I really felt that the world was simply a game where everyone would try to make life easy for me; I thought everything kind of revolved around me. I was well educated and polite, but things like saying â€Å"sir† simply weren’t a part of my life style. The ability to serve others for nothing still hadn’t been born within me. Incredibly that changed, beginning from the very first day of training in the Bolivian Army. Probably one of the things that helped me grow up fast was the sudden departure from my parents and friends. All of the sudden I was alone in a world of loneliness, where my only comfort was the drill sergeant yelling his lungs out at me. It was never a good idea to let anyone know you were homesick, because the drill sergeant would order a â€Å"happy hug† where every single recruit would go squeeze you as hard as they can. The first couple of happy hugs weren’t all that bad, but after 80 of them, a persons ribs feel like they’ve been run over by a truck ten times! Indeed, learning determination, coordination, and punctuality with all the exercises are one of the most challenging times in the military. Those five o’clock morning jogs – rain or shine – made us realize that it is possible to continue doing something no matter what else was going on around us; that’s a valuable lesson to learn in life. We all learned rather quickly not to yawn early in the morning, because if we did the sergeant would order us to do the â€Å"alarm clock wake up†, where the guy in front would turn around and slaps the person behind him. Then that guy would turn around and slap the guy behind him. I still feel kind of sorry for the last guy in line; he never got to smack anyone! Indeed, it is quite an effective way to wake up the troops. Unfortunately, we also learned to not have

Gender, Race, and Religion in the Colonization of the Americas Essay

Colonization is associated with the occupation of a foreign land. The definition of colonization is broad. However, it is used in the materialist and the traditionalist sense, rather than the metaphorical, to refer to the expropriation and exploitation of land and/or resources by one group over another. Various countries and continents fell under the York of colonization, and one such case is the African continent. The motivation for European’s colonization of different regions such as Africa was a combination of curiosity, missionary effects, scientific inquiry, exploitation of natural resources, and philanthropic desire to bring progress to Africa and its inhabitants. This is as per the definition of the Europeans. While Christianity and some desire to promote commerce were primary drivers of European interest in Africa, the dominating view was one of laissez-faire politics, assuming that contact with Europe and the desire to trade and interchange would stimulate African dev elopment. Beginning 1800 European powerhouses such as Britain, France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, and the Netherlands expanded their rule and influence to different parts of Africa. This led to the rise of colonial rule that affected nearly all institutions, politics, and social settings including growth and control of certain industries, government structures, education systems and health practices (Udeze, 2009). In the early periods of the twentieth century, European governments were claiming sovereignty over all, but six of the roughly forty political units into which the African continent had been divided by European missionaries and exploration. By doing this, these countries had already begun to lay claim to African territory, and this may have been attributed more to their competition with each other in Europe as opposed to the desire of developing colonies. In large part, the main focus of the colonial powers was to extract resources from Africa such as ivory, rubber, ores et c etera. In the case of colonization in Africa, there has been a significant debate about the impact of colonialism in Africa. In the grand scheme of the continent’s history, the colonial era lasted a short time –less than a century. The Eurocentric scholars often gave the early accounts of the colonial period in Africa and they emphasized the positive impacts of colonization by focusing on the introduction of new technology, civilizing mission, medical advances, and the onset of modernity. On the other hand, the era of African nationalism resulted in the emergence of Afrocentric and Marxist analysis of colonization in Africa that was hardly sympathetic to the European point of view. In general, these studies concluded that the colonial era interrupted Africa’s natural development and condemned the continent to stagnation and continued exploitation. That being said, it is clear that colonization in Africa came with its fair share of positive and negative outcomes alike. The nature of economic activities promoted during the colonial period caused the spread of cash crop agriculture, which in some cases allowed Africans to acquire wealth and raise their standard of living. Economically speaking, colonialism fostered the construction of economic infrastructure –roads, railroads, telegraph, and ports. However, the purposeful emphasis on cash crop agriculture impeded industrial development in Africa. This is because European nations did not want industrial competition. Furthermore, Africa’s integration into a world economy resulted in a system that encouraged Africans to produce what they could not use and use what they did not produce, creating national economies extremely susceptible to an economic crisis. America is another classical example of countries that were subjected to colonialism. American was a former colony of the British. Some of the most heated debates about colonization in America concerned whether this was primarily a form of gradual emancipation and a conservative alternative to abolitionism, or whether it is understood as a racist movement that ultimately reinforced slavery in America. Through colonization, America was able to realize its economic potential and today it is one the leading economies across the globe. Furthermore, colonization in America led to the introduction of an employee benefits program that helps to add to economic stability whereby the income and welfare of American families are guaranteed (Yarema, 2006). However, it cannot go without saying that the colonization of America increased the widespread of slavery that is often considered as a negative impact of colonialism in America. A lot of people from Africa were shipped to America to work as slaves. In its most benevolent formulations, the colonization movement proposed that, due to prejudice within the United States, free blacks and those who worked as slaves could not experience the full benefits of freedom, equality, or citizenship in America. This acted as a catalyst for racism, and some African-Americans did agree that the best course would be to leave the country and start freshly in Africa. In other cases, slaveholders made colonization a condition of manumission, leaving African-American women and men with the choice between slavery and Liberia (Jaffary, 2007). Other than slavery, the other negative impact of colonization in America is that it was premised on the assumption that a multiracial republic could not function prope rly. Effects of one culture trying to colonize the other are bound occur in one way or the other. The subject of colonization in the African historical experience; should explain why every cultural trend discovered in Africa by later observers should not be simply tagged as original African culture and the tradition of the group living it; or of Africa as a whole. The strongest arguments are based on the dramatic change and twists inflicted on the original African culture by the acts of colonization by the West in the history of Black Africa. As a result of Europeans invading Africa on the pretext of exploration, this did not only retard the steady growth of the original African cultures, it created confusion, a distortion and a form of syncretism. Based on the incompatible nature of these two cultures, the Europeans amalgamated cultures indiscriminately. This act of colonization inflicted an enormous long-term suppression on the totality of the African cultures colonized, and effected an extensive implant of the colonizing foreign cultures that are better referred to as Western cultures. The act of one culture colonizing the other cannot escape the fact that culture is a man-made reality; thus, it is a product of man. Each culture has its specific imperfections. The situation becomes worse when one culture, with all its imperfections, imposes itself indiscriminately on another culture; thus permeates its victims with its own imperfections; hence, proliferating evil and imperfections (Rieder, 2008). Because of the indifference of these two cultures, the European colonizers treated Africa as only a vast extension of land mass and paid very little or no attention to the people occupying that land mass except when they could consider them as a commercial vehicle or as any other means and instrument of making their insatiable material cravings come to fruition within the grips of their fingers. References Jaffary, N.E. (2007). Gender, Race, and Religion in the Colonization of the Americas. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing. Rieder, J. (2008). Colonialism and the Emergence of Science Fiction. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. Udeze, B. (2009). Why Africa?: A Continent in a Dilemma of Unanswered Questions. Xlibris Corporation. Yarema, A. E. (2006). American Colonization Society: An Avenue to Freedom? Maryland: University Press of America. Source document

Child Obesity Crisis - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1128 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/03/15 Category Health Essay Level High school Tags: Childhood Obesity Essay Obesity Essay Did you like this example? Child Obesity Crisis For the past decades, our surroundings has been changing, weather the topics indulged in the fastpast development of technology, the latest trend that takes the internet by storm, but one topic that passes a blind eye that seemily is growing everyday for the worst, is our bodies, but most concerning our health. Simple choices individuals make influence their health substantially long term. Everyday decision that individuals make could potentially become lethal to themselves and their surroundings. Careless repetitive decision like sugary cereals in the morning, that pizza for lunch, or even worst, a quick McDonald drive through that same evening can become a health hazard overtime. These careless decisions that nearly half of Americans execute leads themselves into a rising obesity epidemic that could be fatal. Obesity at any age whether an individual is 40 years old, 25 and pregnant, or just entering kindergarten can potentially harm the individuals heart, lungs, muscles, kidney, digestive tract, as well as hormones, increasing the emotional toll and disability later in life (Obesity Prevention Source). Nearly 40% of adults in America are obese, meaning 1in 3 adults and 1 and 6 children will end up battling cardiovascular disease and or cancer (Devitt). Leaving our country bigger than it ever been before, while increasing the odds of having a shorter life-span, causing higher lifetime medical cost due to the effects of the obesity caused illnesses. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Child Obesity Crisis" essay for you Create order The urgency to find â€Å"the solution† to this national outbreak can be as simple as the type food we eat and most important the food that is given to children. Famous words said by Haim Ginott, a child psychologist, â€Å"Children are like wet cement, whatever fall on them makes an impression†, explaining that a child’s brain is incredibly sensitive to its environmental cues and experiences, developing their views that impact their turnout in life. When a child is only exposed to eat junk food full of unsaturated fats, high fructose corn syrup, and trans fats, that diet becomes second nature, and sadly all that adolescent knows. According to Gidding , a pediatric cardiologist, writing for Obesity, Fitness Wellness Week states, â€Å"poor eating habits and inactivity are the root causes of childhood obesity† and practicing this certain type of lifestyle can prolong the cycle of the epidemic and increase the child’s risk of becoming obesse . In the midst of the obesity epidemic, instilling a healthier diet from a young age can save a child’s life from life- threatening illnesses, improving their quality of life. The American Diet has heavily impacted Americas health in a numerous ways. The typical American diet has changed drastically over a century and our health is living proof. The future of America has become numb to the supersizing of food and becoming unaware of â€Å"regular portions.† According to a Scientist on Food and Nutrition, Diet Food Addiction, Nicole Avena confirmed that the average American individual consumes over 1,000 calorie more than their prefer caloric intake, pertaining to their ideal height and weight (Arena). Calorie intake for female ages 4 years to 18 years should be consuming around 1,200 calories to 1,800 calories every day and males ages 4 to 18 years should be consuming around 1,400 to 2,220 calories, depending on their build, with at least an hour of physical activity, in order to maintain a child’s normal growth and development (Dietary Recommendation for Healthy Children). Children blindly consuming 1,000 calories a day is very detrimental to their health, and eventually becomes inevitably to stop their rapid weight gain. Adolescent exceeding 1,000 calories than prefer caloric intake will promote childhood obesity due to the excess weight gain, leading children to fall into a statistic of suffering from Coronary Heart Disease, killing over 370,00 people annually (Heart Disease Facts), being at risk for 13 types of cancer facing the odds of 66% survival rate (Cancer Associated with Overweight and Obesity) , and early adult- onset Type 2 diabetes affecting major organs, including heart, blood vessel, nerves, eyes and kidneys ( Diabete Basic). A recent study conducted by B.J. Rolls on the influence of food portion size and energy density on energy intake observed, that when humans are presented with larger portions of food and beverages this can leads to a â€Å"substantial increase in energy intake,† thus supporting the possibility that larger portion have a role in the development of obesity (B.J Rolls). Studied concluded portion- control strategies to counter â€Å"portion distortion† is to â€Å"educate people to recognize how much food they should eat of different types of food and beverages at meal and snack ( B.J Rolls).† Understanding portion control is a major factor contributing in the obesity epidemic, especially correlating the data towards fast food chains. Fast Food chains are known for their super size meals and crazed calorie consumption. For past few decades fast food menus has nearly triple their portions while gravitating towards adolescent thus increasing the rate childhood obesity in America (First We Feast). (Lead more into this) But who becomes accountable for a child’s obesity? According to the American Physiological Society states, â€Å"40-70% of obesity-related traits are heritable† meaning overweight mothers were more likely have an overweight offspring setting the child for a lifelong risk of obesity illness (Frihauf). ( get more in depth) In Today’s age, children ages 8-18 are heavily consumed by social media and all of it entirety. According to American Psychological Association children spends at least 44.5 hours per week in front of a computer screen, television, and phones than in any other activities in their life ( Story and French). Food and Beverage industry in the United States view children and adolescents as a major market force due to their spending powers and careless purchases, completely taking advantage over the stereotypical American child (Story and Finch). Referring to Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children and Adolescent the in the U.S., children and adolescent have been heavily targeted with intense and aggressive forms of media advertising spending over one billion dollars on media advertising through marketing channel, school marketing, and product placement. Food Industries and Fast Food Franchise purposely direct their product towards adolescent with the knowledge of what their product can do to a child’s health long-term. Franchises that are known to cause heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes are targeting ages 2- 4 years with having â€Å"75% of US food manufacturers’ advertising budgets and 95% of US fast food restaurants budget all allocated around to television (Story and French).† Promoting and advertising fast food meals to adolescent and children is just as striking as tobacco industry marketing cigarettes to children. Smoking cigarettes are responsible for 480,00 death in America (Smoking Tobacco Use) while obesity- related illness cause 300,000 death in America. Banning franchisement’s commercial and advertisement and promoting a healthy lifestyle full of nutrition for the better investment in children’s health to reduce the risk of childhood obesity.