MGT 316 Week 3 Operational Processes Example

From Fabric Order to a Dealer's Shelf in Hamburg: Mapping and Improving the Operational Processes of a Global Gear Company

[Student Name]

University of Phoenix

MGT/316: Managing with a Global Mindset

Week 3 Assignment

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

Northwoods Trail Outfitters and all process data are composites written for a model paper.

Northwoods Trail Outfitters, the composite outdoor gear company from Wausau, Wisconsin, designs products at headquarters, sources most of them from contract factories in Vietnam and sells through dealers and its website. As it prepares to sell in Canada, Germany and Mexico, leaders worry that a process built for one country will not serve four. Last season, 18 percent of fall jacket orders shipped late to dealers, and the company carried $21 million in inventory. An operational process is the path a product takes through a company, and every day it waits along that path costs money that customers never see. This paper maps Northwoods' main process, measures it and recommends improvements for global sales.

What an Operational Process Is

An operational process transforms inputs into outputs that customers value. Slack et al. (2022) describe the transformation of materials, information and customers through a sequence of activities, with performance judged on quality, speed, reliability of delivery, flexibility and cost. For Northwoods, the central process is order to delivery: turning a product design into finished goods on dealers' shelves.

Step One: Design Approval

Product designers finalize styles about 14 months before the selling season. Marketing confirms colors and quantities based on dealer previews. The step ends when the line is approved, roughly 11 months before delivery.

Step Two: Fabric and Materials

Fabrics and insulation come from mills in Vietnam, China and Taiwan. Mills require 60 to 90 days to produce technical fabrics. Northwoods often confirms quantities late, after dealer orders, so mills begin late and fabric arrives at factories behind schedule.

Step Three: Production

Contract factories in Vietnam cut, sew and pack products in about 45 days once materials arrive. Northwoods' quality staff inspect finished goods before shipment, finding defects such as uneven seams or wrong labels at the end, when fixing them is slow.

Step Four: Shipping and Customs

Containers travel by ocean from Ho Chi Minh City to Los Angeles in about 21 days, then by rail and truck to Wisconsin, with customs clearance and tariff payment on arrival. The trip from factory to warehouse averages 38 days.

Step Five: Warehousing and Delivery

The Wisconsin warehouse receives, stores and picks orders for dealers and online customers. Products for Canada, Germany and Mexico would be shipped from Wisconsin, adding another one to five weeks.

Measuring the Process

From design approval to delivery, the process takes about 210 days for most products. Inventory turns about 2.5 times a year, low for the industry. On-time delivery to dealers is 82 percent. Final inspections reject 4 percent of units, which then wait for rework or replacement.

Finding Waste With Lean Thinking

Lean thinking, developed from the Toyota Production System, identifies waste as anything that consumes resources without adding value. Liker (2004) described waste types including waiting, overproduction, excess inventory, unnecessary transport, extra processing and defects. At Northwoods, the largest wastes are waiting for fabric, transporting European orders through Wisconsin and defects discovered at the end.

Global Value Chains

Antràs (2020) explained that global value chains split production across countries to take advantage of different costs and skills, but bind firms to suppliers through relationships that are hard to change quickly. Northwoods' process spans mills in three countries, factories in Vietnam, ports, the U.S. warehouse and soon foreign customers. Each link adds time and risk, including tariff changes and shipping disruptions.

Where the Time Goes

Breaking the 210 days into working time and waiting time is revealing. Design, production, shipping and warehouse handling together account for about 120 days of actual work or travel. The other 90 days are waiting: for quantity decisions, for fabric, for factory slots, for containers and for dealer delivery windows. Lean practitioners often find that waiting dominates lead time, and Northwoods is no exception. Reducing waiting is usually cheaper than speeding up the work itself.

Risk in the Chain

The process also has single points of failure. One mill supplies the waterproof membrane for all premium jackets, and one factory makes all tents. A fire, a power shortage or a sudden tariff change at either would stop a product line for months. Northwoods will qualify a second mill for the membrane and a second tent factory, accepting slightly higher cost for resilience. Global supply disruptions in recent years have shown that the cheapest chain is not always the safest.

Improvement One: Earlier Fabric Commitments

Northwoods can commit to fabric quantities for core colors before dealer orders arrive, based on past sales, and reserve mill capacity. This could cut 30 to 40 days of waiting. The risk is ordering fabric that is not needed, which can be limited by committing only for best-selling styles.

Improvement Two: Quality at the Source

Moving inspections into the factories during production, with checks after cutting and sewing, catches problems early. Training factory supervisors in Northwoods' standards should cut final rejections from 4 percent to under 2 percent.

Improvement Three: Direct Shipping to Europe and Canada

Products for Germany can ship from Vietnam to Hamburg through a European logistics provider rather than through Wisconsin, saving about four weeks and one ocean crossing. Canadian orders can ship from Vancouver. Mexico can be served from the Wisconsin warehouse or a border distributor.

Improvement Four: Better Information

A shared planning system that shows dealer orders, factory progress and shipment status to all functions will let Northwoods spot delays sooner. This fixes the coordination gaps identified in Week 1.

Expected Results and Tradeoffs

Together, these changes could cut lead time from 210 to about 160 days, raise on-time delivery above 92 percent and lower inventory by about $4 million. Tradeoffs include the risk of excess fabric, costs of a European logistics provider and time to train factories.

Conclusion

Northwoods' order-to-delivery process takes 210 days and wastes time in fabric waiting, end-of-line inspection and extra transport. Earlier commitments, quality at the source, direct shipping and shared information address the largest wastes and prepare the company for global sales. Each change should be measured so the company learns what works, and the second sources for membrane and tents reduce the chance that one failure stops a product line. Together the changes prepare a process built for one country to serve four.

References

Antràs, P. (2020). Conceptual aspects of global value chains. The World Bank Economic Review, 34(3), 551-574. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhaa006

Liker, J. K. (2004). The Toyota way: 14 management principles from the world's greatest manufacturer. McGraw-Hill.

Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A., & Burgess, N. (2022). Operations management (10th ed.). Pearson.