Materiel Acquisition Management
MGT 5084

Case Study – Troubles at Eagle Manufacturing Company

Ted Jones, supply manager for Eagle Manufacturing, is arguably, and difficult to deal with. It is believed that Ted inherited a big mess and made every effort to re-invigorate the purchasing department and all his efforts proved abortive. Ted may seems not the right person for this job but his recent statistics and past results signified that he has been successful with the supply side of Eagle Manufacturing but the morale of the company and of his own office is down. Ted expresses that he’s feeling that he is dealing with something akin to the Hydra of Lerna: every time he solves one problem, another one pop up.
The ideal behind the Eagle Manufacturing case are varied. We know about the “estimate” for the maintenance department robot that came in well under the proposed price. Also, for the time being, productivity is affected due to various budgetary and operational concerns. Nevertheless, the communication levels and productive aspects were not conducive in a working environment. There are couples of problems involving all facets of the Eagle Manufacturing Company. These are as follows:
Lack of communication between department heads, management and the entire employees of the company as a whole. The fact that the supply chain management department head has to explain to some staff that the company is experiencing the rate of shrinkage in size or number and budget cuts to operations and administration rather than coming from upper-level management.
Another problem that was found in Eagle Manufacturing case was that employees lack adequate training. There are zero cooperation between other departments and Ted’s department. This is because the staffs were not exposed to any training that can elevate their attitude to work, work ethics, and delivery quality customer’s service. Proper and adequate training can solve many issues at hands. These will increase employee’s morale, work ethics, employee’s efficiency and effectiveness at work.
Moreover, Eagle Manufacturing lacks process among the departments. This means that there is no absolute defined process of task or any collaboration between departments. Technically, departments are all fighting and quarreling with each other. This indicates that many of departments do not understand their responsibilities in the overall company’s operations and eventual cause’s failure.
Another obvious major problem in the company is the lack of adequate procurement lead times. This means that the lead times allocated for the maintenance robot were not convenience for the purchase of that size. As such, this drives down any negotiating stance when placed in the sole source position. When competitive pricing is not available to promote lower prices and better negotiating stances, the employees feel the frustration of losing money by the handfuls.
Aside from the major problems, supply chain approach would improve the situation of this company in various ways when employees enjoy adequate communication, employees’ motivation and enticing employees with monetary benefits that can improve the relationship with other departments;
In the aspects of communication, Ted must ensure that each department is aware of any issues at hands as soon as possible. Furthermore,