Production/Operations Management

BUS/MAG 47 Case Study Final Paper

The Fitzgerald Machine Company

Topic: Production/Operations Management

Characters: Don Bradish, recently hired to remedy problems meeting scheduled

Deliveries Jane Fitzgerald, VP of Operations, daughter of the company president

The Fitzgerald Machine Company is a $25MM per year custom metal fabrication shop. It

has a work force of 30 machinists and 15 office personnel Don Bradish was hired from

Peptine Corporation three months ago as Fitzgeralds production scheduler. His background

includes an undergraduate industrial engineering degree and three years of purchasing

experience with Peptine immediately after college. This made him a good fit for Fitzgeralds

needs. He was hired by Jane Fitzgerald, Vice President of Operations and daughter of the

company president.

Recently the company has been having difficulty meeting delivery schedule deadlines. Don was

hired to improve the companys performance in on-time deliveries. So far, he has been learning

the systems of the operations and studying possible solutions, but he has not yet determined

the best course of action to recommend. On Friday, June 21, a $300,000 order, which had been

in the shop for nearly two months, was scheduled for shipment. On the Wednesday before

scheduled delivery, the customer called and asked that delivery be delayed due to a labor

dispute and work stoppage at his location. Although he expected the strike to be settled within

one week or less, he was concerned that delivery of the order from Fitzgerald during the strike

might cause unnecessary misunderstandings in the labor dispute. Don discussed this request

with Jane, and they agreed to accommodate the customers request on the condition that the

customer agree to being billed on the originally scheduled delivery date and to pay on the

originally contracted payment terms. The customer accepted those terms.

On Friday morning, June 21, the production manager reported to Don that the order would

not be completed as scheduled and would probably require at least one more week to finish.

Concerned about the impact of this delay on his job status, Don decided to investigate the

cause of the delay before informing Jane of the problem. Before he could complete his inquiry,

Jane called to inform him that she had just mailed the invoice for the order as agreed. She also

suggested that Don negotiate with the customer a storage fee for the order, which would be

paid in addition to the billing arrangement. Don wondered what he should say to Jane next.

Write an 6-8 page paper (double-spaced, 11pt font) not including cover page and reference

page. Please use the APA format for your paper. Answer the following questions in your

paper:

What are the relevant facts?

What are the ethical issues?

Who are the primary stakeholders?

What are the alternatives?

What Are the Ethics of the alternatives?

What are the practical restraints?

What action should be taken?