Riordan Manufacturing: Production Plan Essay

Production practices have had an important role in satisfying the dynamic market. Many approaches have being developed in order to respond effectively to specific business requirements. In fact, some areas of management have focused its study on the overseeing, designing, and controlling the process of production in an effort to find the best methodology that ensures the business success and performance. However, complexities arise in this field because many variables such as costs, inventory, scheduling, suppliers, etc have to be considered in any business. Lean approach and the traditional approach are two points of view that aim to address this complexities, and those will be examined in this essay.

Riordan Manufacturing is planning to implement a lean production strategy which will work to eliminate waste in production, minimize inventory levels by enabling suppliers and production lines real-time access to inventory data, and minimize the potential for the duplication of effort. The new procurement process design will make the entire organization more efficient while reducing overhead. This move will increase the effectiveness of the supply chain management and support the optimal efficiencies for the production of the electric fans for Riordan Manufacturing.

As a Fortune 1000 enterprise, and an industry leader in the field of plastic injection molding, Riordan Manufacturing, offers state-of-the art plastics design capabilities through its facilities in San Jose, California; Albany, Georgia; Pontiac, Michigan; and Hang Zhou, China. Currently, Riordan's COO, Hugh McCauley, and the executive team have requested changes to the current information system used to maintain inventory and manufacturing processes. Evaluation of current Sales, Inventory, and Manufacturing processes will be required as well as the evaluation of current hardware and software. The present networking system requires improvements and, thanks to today's technology can easily be

Riordan Manufacturing, Inc. has been able to make way into the global business arena with a strong footing. Riordan has established operating plants in San Jose, CA, Albany, GA, Pontiac, MI, and Hangzhou, China. In addition, the quantity of plastic fan parts manufactured in the Hangzhou plant has increased, adding significant shipping costs. This plant is currently incurring transportation and loading costs which include trucking to a harbor on the Qiantang River, loading the goods into shipping containers which are stacked onto barges bound for the Shanghai seaport.

Being a fortune 1000 enterprise and leader in the area of plastic injection molding, Riordan Manufacturing, Inc. has gained international praise on producing new and improved plastic designs with their “state of the art design capabilities.” (Virtual Organization) Riordan Manufacturing’s facilities are located in San Jose, CA; Albany, GA; Pontiac, MI; and Hangzhou, China. Some of their products include: plastic drink containers (GA), tailor-made plastic parts (MI), and plastic fan parts (China). All research and development is done at their corporate office in California. With these resources Riordan Manufacturing can implement most any needs a company may have.

Riordan Manufacturing is a worldwide plastics manufacturer employing more than 550 people with earnings of $46 million.

Riordan Manufacturing is a Fortune 1000 enterprise employing 550 individuals and consist of an annual earnings of $46 million along with an excess of $1 billion in revenue. This is being accomplished by the production of plastics in different facilities consisting of: beverages, custom parts, and fan parts. These facilities are located in Albany, Georgia; Pontiac, Michigan; and Hangzhou, China which coordinate with the headquarters that is located in San Jose. The San Jose location is also where the Research and Development of Riordan takes place. These locations create plastic products that are distributed to some manufacturing merchants in the automotive parts, aircraft, beverages and bottlers, and appliances along with providing

ABCO Consulting thanks the Riordan organization for allowing us to do this upgrade analysis. A review of the existing infrastructure at Riordan has been completed and the findings are contained in this document. There will be a listing of what was found followed by a proposed upgrade system layout. The scope of this project is to cover the following systems and subsystems and to explain how they all interact one with another.

Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastics manufacturer employing 550 people with projected annual earnings of $46 million. The company is wholly owned by Riordan Industries, a Fortune 1000 enterprise with revenues in excess of $1 billion. Its products include plastic beverage containers produced at its plant in Albany, Georgia, custom plastic parts produced at its plant in Pontiac, Michigan, and plastic fan parts produced at its facilities in Hangzhou, China. The company's research and development is done at the corporate headquarters in San Jose. Riordan's major customers are automotive parts manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, the

Riorden Manufacturing Incorporated is a global plastic manufacturing company that employs 550 people with annual earnings of $46 million. Riorden has several plants in different parts of the country and overseas with a corporate headquarters in San Jose California. The company’s major customers are automotive parts manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, department of defense, beverage makers, and bottlers. Riorden wants to introduce a new process that improves production of electric fans in Hangzhou, China. In

Chase et al. (2006) state that “lean production is an integrated set of activities designed to achieve high-volume production using minimal inventories of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods” (p. 471). The essential components of lean production are surplus elimination, constant work-flow, and consumer appeal. The minute these components are in the neighborhood of supply, quality and cost, this outlines the groundwork for a lean production organization. A Japanese plan of continuous progress named the Kaizen is responsible for the lean production idea. Riordan can adjust the lean production concept by employee empowerment and advancement, staying focused on making processes stronger, impact of consumer relations, rapid merchandise growth and production, and cooperation with suppliers are the imperative strategies of Riordan managing lean. Features of a lean enterprise include a combined single piece continuous workflow and near incorporation of the entire value series from raw material to finished product. In addition, demand drives production rather than predictions. This means that manufacture designing is by consumer demand or appeal and not to become system loading or strict work flows on the company floor. This will help Riordan keep minimal inventories at each step of the production process. It is also important to know that having a working participation by employees involved in

Riordan Manufacturing has it’s headquarter in California according to its intranet site, more than five hundred people are employed here. The manufacturing firm is also providing additional facilities from Georgia, Michigan and China. The fundamental goal of this

Riordan Manufacturing Inc. is in the field of plastic injection molding. A leader in plastics designs in many different areas, with state of the art capabilities in developing innovative products for their customers. The company was founded by Dr. Riordan, a professor of chemistry, working with processing polymers into high strength plastic articles. Dr. Riordan obtained patents and licensing to start manufacturing plastic fans in the plant at Pontiac, Michigan in 1992. This summary will cover Riordan’s mission, the four plant description, and the companies finance and accounting.

Lean production is an incorporated group of activities set up to attain high volume production by using low inventories of raw materials, processing goods, and finished goods (Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano, 2006). Using a lean production process, the China plant will be able to produce goods at a lower cost. Riordan China plant will need to eliminate any waste in the production process to achieve the highest level of efficiency.

Riordan Manufacturing Inc. goals are to provide quality products, with excellent customer satisfaction, and manufactured in a highly creative teamwork setting. Also, Riordan would like to continue producing quality plastic that aims to the automotive manufacturer, aircraft manufacturers, the