Stickley Furniture

Stickley Furniture

Introduction

This assignment is based on the case study of Stickley Furniture, which is one of the leading furniture companies in the United States. The main focus of this assignment has been on the systems and operation management issues of the company. Some of the issues that have been identified are related to lack of technological functions, human resource and production process of the company (www.stickley.com). In order to deal with such issues, some of the recommendations have been provided through which, the company can achieve competitive advantage in terms of its operations and systems. At the end of the report, conclusion has also been given, through the consideration of which, the management can able to improve its services and sales.

Discussion

Overview of the Company

In 1900, L. & J.G. Stickley was established by two brothers Leopold and George Stickley. Initially it was located right outside or Syracuse in New York. The company is involved in the production of fine cherry, mahogany furniture and white oak. During the 1980's the company got re stick to its original line of mission oak furniture, which has now been generating approximately 50 percent of the total sales of the company. Since its inception, the company has been facing good times and the bad times, and there came such situations in which the company employed more than 200 people as well. But in the beginning of 1970's, the business of the company faced disarray in its overall performance, there were only 20 employees who were working for full time in the company, and it was on the edge of being bankrupt. In the year 1974, the company was sold to the present owners who bought this ailing company. Under the leadership of the present owners, the company started to stepping on the ladder of success, it began to flourish and grown. There are almost 1350 employees working in the company. It has also stepped in expanding its branches in the same country. Now the company has five retail furniture showrooms in the state of New York, one showroom in the North Carolina, two in Connecticut. The furniture of the company is sold in almost all the parts of the country through 120 dealers (www.stickley.com).

Production Processing

L. &J.G. Stickley has successfully combined the two methods of processing and production, such as continuous and batch production process. These two methods are combined in order to meet the requirements of the customers in an effective manner. However, through the implementation of these two production and process methods, the company has been efficiently performing and meeting the demands of the customers at its maximum capacity. This implementation has also enabled the company to increase its production process at its maximum level and process the batch on time (Ilia B& Erik, n.d.).

Types of the Production Process

Following are the four types of production process, which are:

Job Shop Method: A single worker or group of workers handles the entire task.

Batch Method: This divides work into pieces or ...