Mis Case

BUS 554 - Group Case Report: Baxter Manufacturing Company

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION:

Baxter Manufacturing Company is a leading manufacturer of deep drawn stampings with strong growth of approximately 20% per year in the last five years of sales. BMC has developed a niche in supplying stampings to the automotive and appliance industries, with large clients such as Ford, GM, Honda of America, and GE.

The looming crisis is that the rapid growth of the company has not been adequately matched by their information systems for scheduling and production, seriously challenging their ability to produce goods on-time and respond to Just-In-Time changes from clients. BMC has previously experienced (1991) a situation where problems in meeting shipping schedule were so bad that it resulted in turned-down business, and it has been a continual battle to find a software solution to address this disconnect between information systems and operations. Management is under pressure to invest in a functional system, either one developed in house or a system such as that offered by EMS.

We created the following SWOT analysis to explore this case:

Strengths of BMC would be that management is receptive of introduction to new technology. This is clear with the risks that they took with an attempt to implement two systems in the past. Additionally, it is clear that BMC have the financial capabilities to look towards implementing a new software system, whether it be build one on their own, or buying a system. Being majority-owned by family of the founder allows them to make decisions faster than if they had to canvas a larger group of small % shareholders. They are well-recognized as an industry leader in a niche market with strong relations with commercial customers who have also recognized them for quality.

Weaknesses of BMC would be that their factory computer systems were incomplete and fragmented. This could be a result of little experience from management with use of...