Essay About Assembly Section And Patterson Plant

Patterson Operation
Patterson Operation
CASE STUDYPatterson OperationSubmitted by:Group OHANABala, Clarisse MarielleBorrero, ArnoCabal, Elissa MaeDaz, Shly KarinaLacson, JustineNamoc, Joanna GraceSubmitted to:Ma’am Aiza HerreraMgt 101 BPatterson Operation: A Case Analysis        Point of ViewIn this case, the management faced problems of low productivity, low employee morale and high unit costs for the assembly section. Even the problem of severe space for expanding manufacturing and assembly operations was confronted by the management so for the best judgement, the management is indeed the most appropriate point of view for this problem since they are the ones in charge of deciding the company’s movement, the change of location of the assembly for instance and more importantly, they are the over-all evaluating body for the entire company’s operations.Statement of the ProblemShould the leadership style at the Patterson plant be implemented throughout the Carrington, Inc?How/What can be done so that the leadership style implemented at the Patterson plant be also effective if it will be imposed throughout the Carrington, Inc.?Relevant Facts of the CaseCarrington, Inc. is a pharmaceuticals company that engages in worldwide operations.Carrington, Inc. employs 15000 people.Carrington, Inc. has a midsouth plant.The midsouth plant has a problem with low productivity, employee moral,and high unit costs in the assembly part called Section 10.The company employs a Halsey 50-50 incentive plan.Section 10 uses roller-type conveyor belts for the products.The working condition of Section 10 is great; the area is clean, well lit, and air-conditioned. There is also a cafeteria.The discipline in section 10 was poor and the supervisors often have problems.The employees in Section 10 eventually became young inexperienced workers because of a bidding system used by the company and because the Section 10 had a negative reputation to the other workers.The assembly was moved to the facility in Patterson Street, called the Patterson Operation.The facility in Patterson had bad working conditions being poorly ventilated, lit, and had no cafeteria.The assembly component of the company in Patterson was headed by Fred Hammond, an African-American first-line supervisor.Fred Hammond introduced innovations or having a less strict management of the assembly with concerning working hours, environment, and attire.The assembly experienced a 32.8% increase in Patterson.Older experienced workers wanted to work in Patterson because of the working conditions.Fred Hammond was replaced by May Allison who handled the assembly the same way and was received just as well.May Allison allowed the workers at the assembly to change the working hours during summer because of the heat even if it’s against company policy.Absenteeism, tardiness and turnover in the Patterson plant are not better in the main plant but are considered insignificant.SWOT Analysis with StrategiesOpportunitiesO1 – There are other cost-reduction strategies for health care costsThreatsT1 – Earl Light, a member of the union accounting for 2800 hershey employees think the program meddles with the personal life of employees more than it should be and think it dictates lifestyle.T2 – Rapid increase in health care costs during the 1990’sStrengthsS1 – The assembly of the company in the Patterson plant has more productivity than in Section 10S1O1 – Implement the wellness incentive program alongside other cost reduction strategies.S1T1 – Explain to the union that even with the factor that it dictates lifestyles, the program is effective.S1T2 – The company shall continue implementing the wellness program to reduce the employees’ health care costs which the company has to pay.WeaknessesW1 – The checking of categories are not 100 percent accurate.W2 – In 1993 the program became invasive to private lifeW1O1 – Search for other cost-reduction programs for health care.W2O1 – Look for less invasive cost-reduction programs.W1T1 – Do not implement the wellness incentive program because the program is invasive and not accurateW1T2 –  Implement the program even if the program is not accurate to reduce the health care costsW2T1 – Do not implement the wellness incentive program because the company will lose all employees who belong to the unionW2T2 – Determine if the reduction of health care costs is worth invading the employees’ personal life.Evaluation of Alternatives Extend the program to the rest of the 11000 employeesPros: The 25-35% health care costs will be reducedCons: The program is invasive and will result to the leave of the employees who belong to the unionDo not continue implementing the wellness incentive programPros: The union employees will not think of leaving the company.Cons: The company will have to bare with the health care costs.Look for other cost-reduction programsPros: It will lessen the health care costs at the same time keep the union employees.Cons: It may not be as successful as the wellness incentive program.RecommendationsExtend the program to its 11,000 employees because it’s worth the downsides and the penalty could be removed.Implementation PlanExtend the wellness incentive program to its 11,000 employees.Contingency PlanLook for another cost-reduction program that is not invasive towards the personal life of the company’s employees.