AMERICAN TOOL COMPANY

Case Study: American Tool Company



Case Study: American Tool Company

Executive Summary

This assignment is based around a case study of a company, American Tool Company that is aiming to employ modern operation management practices to progress its competitiveness and efficiency. American Tool Company distributes and manufactures hand tools for the professional and by the do-it-yourself user. The company decided to commission a new quality management practice. This new system will require a fundamental change to the current processes linked with human resource management, marketing, inventory control, finance, shop floor control, product costing, engineering and planning. The system will also have a monitoring and feedback function to cater for delays and waste in the purchasing and manufacturing activities (www.americantoolcompany.com). This paper discusses the use and benefits of TQM at American Tool Company.

Introduction

American Tool Company has been experiencing some issues with production, distribution and management. The management has now decided to take benefit from the modern Operation management practices to overcome the problems. The new Quality Management System (QMS) will help American Tools in managing its all activities of production and distribution especially in guaranteeing customer delivery dates. The system will also help American Tools in monitoring and feedback function to cater for delays and waste in the purchasing and manufacturing activities. As a Quality Management System (QMS) consultant, I would like to provide the following guidance to the Chief Executive and Board of Directors of American Tool Company on the benefits and limitations, design & acquisition of operation management practices. This paper discusses how Operation management practices and Internet applications could improve their current business operations.

Discussion

The meanings of the terms Total Quality Management (TQM) and modern operation management practice are identical and interchangeable in an organizational context. (Turban 2009, 47)

The modern operation management practices become viewed as the system that connects the brain with the body, the nervous system as it was. From this separation of work and thought about work, established by scientific management, Total Quality Managements emerged as a self-evident need. As organizations grew in size and complexity, this need became more and more acute. Likewise, the problem of allocating resources—workers, machines, material, and so on—could no longer simply be solved on "diagrams and maps," which acted as models for the reality. As organizations became more complex than can be represented on diagrams and maps, more sophisticated models were needed to act as representations of reality, where different possible allocations, or scenarios, could be developed and evaluated. Thus, the need for decision-support systems emerged. Likewise, more and more detailed information about work in progress and work completed were needed so that the planning horizon could be up to date. (Anthony 2005, 15)

The rationale of TQM adaptation in the American Tool Company

Total quality management is a management philosophy to constantly develop the quality of processes & products. An Organizational Quality management System exists because an organization exists. To achieve its purpose, an organization must (1) define the characteristics of goods and services to be provided, (2) deliver ...