I. The Business: Solectron Corporation is a worldwide provider of pre-manufacturing, manufacturing and post-manufacturing services to leading electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). It offers its customers competitive outsourcing advantages such as access to shortened product time-to-market, advanced manufacturing technologies, more effective asset utilization and reduced cost of production. Solectron was the first electronics manufacturing services industry in 1977.
II. The Way of Working: Solectron demonstrated how high quality and high efficiency translate into low costs and timely delivery. Their focus was has always been on customer satisfaction, exploiting the advanced manufacturing technology, and stressing continuous improvement. The company competes successfully with both strong international competition and also with the internal production capabilities of its customers. Major computer firms known for manufacturing efficiency improved quality and having closed internal assembly operations after determining that outsourcing the work to Solectron not only lowered costs . About 90 percent of new business is additional work from established customers. These customers are being benefitted by reduction of defect rates that have fallen to level of the five-sigma range, or 233 parts per million, and on-time delivery rate of 97.7 percent. Consistent with the goals of its major customers, Solectron has committed to achieving and then surpassing Six Sigma quality in critical processes over the next few years.
III. Philosophy of working: For Solectron Continuous Improvement is a part of its cultural strength. The strong top management of the company is on a quality crusade to revitalize American business. Corpora...
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... As it has already done with its customers, the company has taken its suppliers as partners in pursuing Six Sigma quality, and it technical assistance and offers training to help them continuously improve.
Investments in advanced technology are based on Solectron's evaluation of its customers future requirements and management’s focus on enhancing manufacturing capabilities. The company was quick to take (SMT) that unlike the traditional method, permits integrated circuits and other components to be placed on both sides of a circuit board. Although requiring higher levels of capital investment and assembly expertise, SMT offers the advantages of increased packaging density and improved product performance. Solectron now has 19 surface mount assembly lines, and it is developing new bonding and soldering methods to exploit the advantages that SMT offers customers.
There are many people that benefit from Lean Six Sigma which include mainly customers, suppliers, employees, and also stockholders. Lean Six Sigma is a way for businesses to improve, to reduce waste and to become more successful. In the future, more and more organizations will adopt or practice some of the Lean, Six Sigma, or both in order to stay competitive in today’s market. In some cases, blending both Lean and Six Sigma can be costly and difficult; however the end result can create an organization that focuses on quality, accuracy, and speed to meet the goal which is profitability.
"The problems, issues, and opportunities in organizations are not about reducing defects; they are about responding to new opportunities, using the voice of the customer knowledge," said O'Dell. "With both Six Sigma and KM, I’m telling you that you’re going to get more of what you want - if you begin to open the conversation to a different way of thinking about solving some of these problems over the long term. Because both Six Sigma and KM have tremendous power, they also have some issues that they need help with."
The 21st century has brought new challenges to manufacturing and service organizations, and one of these important challenges is that the industry is constantly changing (Maleyeff, 2012). Therefore, the systems, processes and procedures of successful businesses will be able to evolve according to the constantly changing industry needs. Six Sigma is one method being widely used by both manufacturing and service businesses today to provide a framework for continuous process improvement (Maleyeff, 2012).
The company has a very good information systems support in being able to make strategic and routine decisions. They research and look into every available option prior to committing to purchasing or contracting with the companies in making sure that they are able to make the best quality product at the lowest costs.
Our commitment to steady, long-term improvement in our products and processes is the cornerstone of our business strategy. To achieve this objective, we must work to continuously improve the overall quality of our design, manufacturing, administrative, and support organizations.
It is meant for high volume and continuous production manufacturing operations. The tool has been applied by leading and big companies in various sectors globally. This article has provided a deeper insight on six sigma applicability in SMEs that have achieved success experience in aeronautics (Pedro, Garrido vega et al. 28). The article evidences that SMEs involved in low volumes in production can achieve success through the application of six sigma and other factors such as resources availability and commitment of the teams involved. Organizations must always strive to improve themselves. They should focus on their performance attributes inherent in the business processes or systems to identify and remove all possible defects that are of critical importance to their customers. Six Sigma is thus a business strategy that allows companies to maximize their profits by optimizing their critical operations, improving quality and eliminating possible barriers. It is a philosophy of work to accomplish, maximize and sustain business success by clearly understanding all the needs of the customer. Embarking on a Six Sigma project means striving to continuously deliver top quality products and service while at the same time eliminating all internal flaws in an organization. Six Sigma is however relevant for any organization that delivers any product or service to its customers so long the critical stages, factors, and obstacles are carefully analyzed. Six Sigma can therefore be seen as an overall business improvement initiative in SMEs rather than just a quality improvement
Unfortunately for Byte the demand for these computer components have increased and Byte simply can not meet the demands. This dramatic increase in demand has allowed many new firms to enter into the industry and have cause an increased number of competing firms. Although Byte management and shareholders are pleased with the profits and growth of the market, it still faces a major issue of the increase in demand. Byte currently operates three manufacturing facilities that operate 24 hours a day, with three shifts, and 7 days a week. This constitutes the maximum production capacity that Byte can do and can not increase its output.
As we learn from the case study, the Lincoln Electric Company is the largest global manufacturer of machines for welding, which are used in all kinds of construction projects. This means that the company has a large global presence and many employees, so its culture affects thousands of its workers. Even though it is now 2014, the company still has a large market share and very satisfied employees, so clearly the culture leaves employees satisfied and motivates them to work hard for the company.
We encourage the development and application of innovations, best practices, Lean tools and techniques. In order to grow the capabilities of our workforce we provide bespoke training and support through commitment. As a result the company maintains a market head position and benefits from a fully engaged and satisfied workforce.
Dell Computer have recently announced changes to their business strategy and supporting supply chain. They will no longer focus on a made to order direct sales model for their personal computers. Nor will they continue to refine their renowned supply chain model that supported their sales model. Instead, they will be looking to produce personal computers with fixed configurations at lower prices. This essay looks at why Dell have changed their strategy, and then considers the customer value proposition of the new strategy, as well as lessons that other organisations can learn from the Dell experience.
Over the past six years, increases in yearly revenues have consistently reached 12%. Byte Products, Inc., headquartered in the midwestern United States, is one of the largest suppliers of electronic components and is considered to be the industry leader, with some 32% market share. Unfortunately for Byte, numerous companies have entered the market; both domestic and foreign. The high demand from consumers and the high profit margins are the reason behind the competitive firms going into the market.
...market share, Intel progressively reduced licensee and developed process and manufacturing infrastructure to manufacture chips by itself. Thus, it contained the “profit pool” in its value chain. Thereafter, successful tie-ups with ‘horizontal’ complementors like Compaq 7 Microsoft led to wrecking of IBM’s hegemony. With established leadership in microprocessor industry, Intel strategically started ‘Intel Inside’ and ‘Runs better on Pentium processor’ programs to improve brand recognition. As more and more end-customers identified Intel and microprocessor as the most important component in a PC, Intel could now command higher power and bargaining position with OEM and software manufacturers. This ensures demand-side control.
When Microsoft entered the video game console market, they were faced with a dilemma: whether to manufacture the Xbox themselves or outsource it to a third company. Microsoft ultimately chose to outsource the production to Flextronics. Flextronics’ 'industrial park' strategy is what allowed it to manage its supply chain, making the production of Xbox more efficient and cost effective. They also had factories around the world, which were all under the centralized information system, s they could shift the production from one country to another if necessary for optimal profitability.
Samsung Electronics Company (SEC) began doing business in 1969 as a low-cost manufacturer of black and white televisions. In 1970, “Samsung acquired a semiconductor business” which would be a milestone that initiated the future for SEC. Entering the semiconductor industry would also be the beginning of the turnaround phase for SEC. In 1980, SEC showed the market its ability to mass produce. SEC became a major supplier of commodity products (televisions, microwave ovens and VCRs) in massive quantities to well known original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). For this reason, Samsung was able to easily transition into a major player in the electronic products and home appliances market (Quelch & Harrington, 2008).
A company’s relationship with key suppliers is a vital part of any company’s success. A good supplier relation means better price, meeting company standards and a better service level. That 's why when Honda started working with Modine, Honda made sure that its relationship with Modine was