Eastern Gears Inc.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Manufacturer of custom-made gears

• Gears ranging in weight few ounce – 50 pounds

• Products primarily to engineering research & development laboratory or

very small manufacturer

• Recently the President accept larger order for 100 gears or more
 Operation Process
CUSTOMER ORDER
Not always contain tolerance &
finishing requirements SALES MANAGER
James Lord

PRODUCT SUPERVISOR CONTROLLER

Joe Irvine Sam Smith

PLACE PURCHASE OF
RAW MATERIAL
1 / 2 weeks to arrive

PRODUCTION PROCESS
Past = 2 weeks
Recent = 4 weeks

DELIVERY
 Physical Layout & Materials Flow

• There is constant interference of the order

• Typical order spend 90% of its time waiting in line for a machine to become available
• Only 10% af the time is actually spent processing the order on a machine
Major Problems being Faced by Eastern Gear ?

❑ Progress of work behind the schedule

❑ Rejected product about 6% due to poor quality

 What action should Rhodes solve to his problem?
1. Modification of Job Shop Layout
2. Divide job shop into 2 workstation, Small order dan Large order.

Drilling

Heat Treating
 Update the Process Design

from Sequantial Approach to Concurrent Approach

 How can this case be related to
operation strategy and process design
concepts?
Operation strategy : consistent pattern of decision for operations and the
associated supply chain that are linked to the business
strategy and other functional strategies, leading to a
competitive advantage for the firm

Eastern Gears Inc., update their business strategy (accept larger order), however the other
functional strategy (operation strategy) doesn’t update the strategy

Process design concepts due to larger order should updated. It include :

• Technical specification must completed before production process
• Reengineering layout and production process to reduce bottleneck, and increase productivity
• Update the process design to Mass Customization