Feasibility Assignment Submission |Project Feasibility Study

Karma Machines –

Multi-faceted Manufacturing Company - Canada

Feasibility Assessment:

Situation Analysis:

Internal Operations: Existing Capabilities and Improvement potential

1. What is the current process?

a. To deal with the existing products and know the market very well to do the supply-demand matrices and work based on the requirements.

b. The company is reliant on the existing workers who have been providing good results with their older products

c. The company specializes in the field of 3 – d molding and the related manufacturing work and is very much interested in ensuring that they use full capacity and therefore have invested in CNC machining and the rapid prototyping machining and a small unit to produce ring-like structures. Apart the organization has led out the area for research work which gives them additional income.

d. The present supply chain systems lie in the distribution of work with many vendors which are around them and therefore helps to ensure reduce the lead time and also co-create the material to ensure the quality standards.

e. The company considers the quality and the on-time delivery.

f. The organization does not have equipment and facilities to do the quality checks required and therefore all such processes are done at the vendor’s place and the final product is received here

g. Either vendor reliability or the inventory for the product given to the specific vendor is the way of ensuring the balance between the supply and demand in this organization. For those vendors who are reliable, the inventory stored is lesser and vice versa.

h. Depending upon the complexity of the material, the packaging is done either at the vendor’s place or at the manufacturing center of Karma

2. What are common problems today?

a. The biggest problem today is about the capabilities of the Kar/Med to be able to maintain the balance between the supply and demand of the newly designed medical product

b. Since the product is very new to this company and is a medical product the processes to be followed are highly stringent. Neither do they have a process to onboard vendors, audit, or certify them

c. The quality standards that are being considered by the organization to develop the required medical product is of the lowest standards in the industry

d. The vendors, especially across the border are not responding to the concept of co-working and are not even able to deliver on time with expected quality levels

e. The border issues between the US and Canada is another issue as there are special approvals required from both the governments for a medical product

f. These kinds of issues are increasing day by day and the company is troubled with balancing the supply-demand. Either the inventory is to be increased, for which the sale is not confirmed in the market, or should produce less and face the risk of losing the market share, a lost opportunity.

g. Some vendors are also creating credit and cash flow issues

h. Some suppliers have been raising the prices frequently, which is raising the questions on consistent profitability

i. The increase in the price of steel has created an additional cost to the organization and it has also created uncertainty on the availability of the steel in the market

j. Dealing with the frequent changes in the design of the product is another headache that has risen. This is stopping the organization from creating inventory stocks for the product and also is questioning if they can manufacture at their own premises using 3 D technology

k. The packaging of the product thus manufactured is another issue as the packaging is done should be in sync with the created design and the available technology

l. Another issue with the packaging is about the confirmation of the packaging with the standards of the market and thereby ensuring the additional requirements of the medical industry are met

Market Assessment: Existing Capabilities and Improvement potential

1. What lead time does the customer want?

• a. The customer wants the delivery as soon as possible, importantly the competitor might acquire the Market if not delivered on time

2. Why do they want that lead time?

• a. The medical equipment undergo a lot of processes both at the vendor and at the client’s place, therefore, it is essential that it reaches the destination on time.

3. Is the cost of the raw material under control?

• a. Steel, one of the major requirements for product manufacturing is getting difficult to be sourced.

4. How competitive is the market?

• a. The market is highly competitive and thus acting both fast and accurate are equally essential.

Technology Assessment: Existing Capabilities and Improvement potential

1. How are products of different kinds manufactured in Karma?

• a. Most of the products are internally manufactured as they have the capabilities, however, they fall short of capabilities many times and are equally dependent on their vendors.

2. How the manufacturing of the new product can be streamlined?

• a. The Karma manufacturing should finalize a set of clients to work with initially. The 3D models can be designed for those clients only. Once they have enough cash in hand they can go ahead and expand.

3. What is the process to check if the balance between the supply and demand is being met?

• a. The internal team of sales and supply work together to understand the lost opportunities

4. What new technologies are available to improve this process?

• a. The company specializes in 3D manufacturing capabilities and they should make the most of it.

Supporting Logic:

The Karma organization at this point is reeling to balance the supply and the demand of the newly designed and to be manufactured medical product. The company, on the quest of bringing more variety to their manufacturing systems, has seemed to have forgotten to create stronger roots, by means they do not have the once clear capability that can be resolved in their own manufacturing center, which further increases dependency.

The organization is also facing issues on the borderlines between the US and Canada. Better than the USA vendors are to be removed and to work with the existing vendors who are nearby. This will not only help them make their presence stronger in Canada but also will ensure that they can easily co-work with them to produce the expected results. Apart, they can also focus on becoming the best by staying in the market and by developing the markets at once.

With the above ways, the organization will not only be able to save costs on border issues but can have better control and can have peace of mind at the end of the day, with the achievement of expected results.

Should Karma invest in increasing its capabilities?

Yes! Yes! Yes! As Karma manufacturing seems to be great at technology, it should expand its capacity to be an in-house manufacturing hub, right from raw material to packaging.

This will help them to

•  depend less on the vendors,
•  will help them to try out multiple designs at lesser quantities produced, as expected by the clients
•  Apart, this will help them create an environment, where their secrets need not be revealed
•  Also, packaging can be handled at the site, which will ensure that the standards are met, both as per the government and the client

Cost/Benefit Estimate: The cost to develop the existing 3D systems is not going too much, as the major setup for the manufacturing is already done and the requirement here is to ensure the existing systems are developed further to

•  ensure that the dependency is reduced on the vendors for all small works and
•  ensure that the R and D ( research and development) activities remain to the Karma manufacturing only Apart from the above, they can
•  curb the issue which are across the borders
•  reduce the costs of transportation between the vendor and the karma manufacturing or to the client
•  ensure that the ordering costs are reduced
•  Can balance the supply and the demand better
•  Risk mitigation and management become better as the authorities involved are lesser and clear decisions can come up quickly