Details

Case

BMX Cycles (A)

James A Erskine, Arif Iqbal Rana

INDUSTRY : Bicycles & Motorcycles

AREA : Production & Operation Management

ORGANIZATION : BMX Cycles

LENGTH : 18

LUMS No : 03-332-89-1

PUBLICATION YEAR : 1989

KEYWORDS:

BMX,Cycles,Production,Operations Management,Bicycles,Motorcycles,Assembly,Production,Marketing,Human Resources

DESCRIPTION:

This case deals with a bottleneck in increasing production line capacity. Cycles with steel rims required considerably more assembly time than cycles with plastic rims, and the marketing department wanted simultaneous production of both models. The difference in the assembly time of the two models resulted in lower productivity. The case illustrates the operation of a batch process, along with an assembly line process in production systems. It also provides students an opportunity to evaluate alternative ways to utilize human resources.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

This case was written for a first year production/operations management course at the masters level. It could easily be used at the undergraduate level as well. It can help beginning students to visualize what happens in production in order to produce a product that is familiar to all. This case will provide students practice in process and bottleneck analysis as well as trade-off analysis involving overtime, second shift and extra equipment aquisition.

SUBJECTS COVERED:

Production, Operations Management