Strategies for reducing infrastructure costs through the use of lean manufacturing
Overview: In this second milestone assignment for the final project, you will continue the process of creating a business development plan for your selected
organization or company. To accomplish this, you must understand how lean practices and continuous improvement throughout the organization, along with
technological advancements, create product differentiation resulting in competitive advantage for the company.
Prompt: Determine strategies for reducing infrastructure costs through the use of lean manufacturing, just in time (JIT), optimized production technology (OPT),
theory of constraints (TOC), and capacity constraint resources (CCR) to improve supply chain efficiency and logistics. What operations business strategy does the
company use in producing its goods and/or services, and what continuous improvement techniques are used? What tools and metrics are used for forecasting
customer demand? How does sustainability play a part in the delivery of goods and services?
To continue your analysis, you will need to gather information about lean practices and forecasting. Information can generally be found on the organization’s
main website, in the annual report and mission statement, and in articles authored by the company or outside analysts, such as ThomasNet.com, buy/sell sites
(e.g., Jim Cramer), and investment companies (e.g., Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, or Vanguard). As operations management students and professionals, you are
encouraged to use your own experience, understanding, and knowledge of business and industry structure to drive your analysis.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
III. Lean Practices in the Workplace and the Supply Chain
A. Determine opportunities for the company or organization to employ lean techniques to strengthen organizational performance while supporting
current business operations. What is the potential outcome of using these lean techniques?
B. Determine opportunities for the company or organization to use just-in-time (JIT) practices, such as safety stock, to reduce inventory costs while
supporting current business operations. What is the potential outcome of using these JIT practices?
C. Determine opportunities for the company or organization to use optimized production technology (OPT) and theory of constraints (TOC)
principles to reduce costs and increase throughput while supporting current business operations. What is the potential outcome of using these
OPT and TOC principles?
This analysis will be incorporated into the final project submission.
Guidelines for Submission: This assignment should be submitted as a 5- to 7-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman
font, and one-inch margins. You should use current APA style guidelines for your citations and reference list. Note that at least 10 outside information sources
are required overall for this project, although many students might find that more are necessary to satisfy the requirements of the project. Please adhere to the
SNHU Academic Honesty Policy as you develop this project.
As necessary, copy and paste any data analysis from Excel into your Word document for submission. You may include your original Excel documents as
supplementary material if you believe this will strengthen your contribution.
