Welcome to the second Case Assignment for this course. Please read the following article (along with the others in the required readings) and learn how Cessna went through a very substantial and well-documented quality initiative program to improve its logistics systems.
Morgan, J. P., (2002, June 6). Cessna aims to drive SCM to its very core. Purchasing, 131(10), 31-35. Retrieved on December 12, 2014, from ProQuest in the Trident Online Library.
Abstract:
When Michael R. Katzorke, vice president of supply management at Cessna Aircraft in Wichita, Kan., began working on the company’s supply chain management system in 1998, Cessna was still a traditional aerospace firm. It had a functional orientation, was vertically integrated, had traditional processes and practices, and there was no provision for Total Quality Management or Six Sigma. To bring about the more fundamental and permanent changes they were seeking, Katzorke and his Cessna colleagues—both at the executive level and in supply management—have developed and deployed no fewer than twenty-one practices and tools aimed at: 1. driving the best possible supply-base rationalization decisions, 2. accelerating the supply-base rationalization process, 3. improving suppliers’ performance, and 4. integrating key suppliers with Cessna’s critical business, manufacturing, and design processes. Brief discussions of each of these steps are presented.
Case Assignment
For your Case Assignment, please research a different organization that has also gone through a major logistics quality initiative recently and write a 5- to 6-page case paper reviewing that process. Discuss why the company took on this initiative, what were the results, and how did this effort help improve the logistics/supply chain management in this company? Be sure to provide the different steps in this change process and any issues or problems that occurred.
Be sure to use at least three references. The references that you find must be recent (within the past 6 years) and they must be firsthand references. You may not use references that are other students’ research. AND you CANNOT use the same organization that you are using to write your SLP papers.
Assignment Expectations
Research the topic with information from the background readings as well as any other resources you find on your own. The paper should be 5–6 pages in length and have a cover sheet and a reference page. Clarity of presentation is important, as well as your ability to cover the topic in a succinct, organized manner with research to back up your points. Use at least 3 different sources of information and annotate your sources of information appropriately on your references page and within the text as necessary. You will be assessed on how well you apply your knowledge of quality control programs in a real-world situation. Submit your assignment for grading by the end of this module.