I need the answers for the follwing

Problem Recognition using a problem recognition tool of your choice, determine the major problems being faced by Eastern Gear. 2) Situation Analysis assess the major factors in the internal and external firm environment using an analysis tool of your choice. 3) Problem Definition identify the major problem, derived from your analysis and aligned with corporate strategy. 4) Major Alternatives list 2 major alternative. 5) Evaluate Alternatives list 3 pros and 3 cons for each major alternative. 6) Conclusion What do you recommend Rhodes should do to solve his major problem?

Case Study Eastern Gear, Inc. Eastern Gear, Inc, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a manufacturer of custom-made gears ranging in weight from a few ounces to over 50 pounds. The gears are made of different metals depending on the customer's requirements. Over the past year, 40 different types of steel and brass alloys have been used as raw materials. See Exhibit 1 for details. Eastern Gear sells its products primarily to engi- neering research and development laboratories or very small manufacturers. As a result, the number of gears in most orders is small; rarely is exactly the same gear ordered more than once. The distribution of order sizes for March 2003 is shown in Exhibit 2. Recently, the president of Eastern Gear decided to accept a few larger orders for 100 gears or more. Al- though lower prices were accepted on these orders, they helped pay the overhead. It was found that the large orders caused many of the small orders to wait for a long time before being processed. As a result, some deliveries of small orders were late. ORDER ENTRY When a customer wishes to order a gear, the order is taken by James Lord, sales manager and marketing vice president. The customer specifies the type of gear desired by submitting a blueprint or sketch. The quantity of gears required and the type of material are also specified by the customer. On occasion, the customer's engineer will call up after the order has been placed and request a change in the design. In these cases, it may be necessary to stop production and wait for new raw materials or for the design to be clarified. The customer's prints submitted with the order do not always contain the tolerances or finishes required during machining. As a result, the customer is contacted directly when the information is needed. After the order is received, one copy is sent to the production supervisor, Joe Irvine, and the second copy is sent to Sam Smith, the controller. Upon re ceipt of the customer's order, Smith places a pur. chase order for the raw materials required. These materials often take from one to two weeks to arrive, depending on the supplier and the type of material ordered. After receiving the customer order, the supervisor reviews the order and places it on file until the raw material arrives. The customer order is then routed through the shop along with the materials. In the past, the production process for most gears has taken about two weeks after receipt of raw materi- als. Recently this production time has increased to four weeks. Irvine expressed concern about the bottlenecks that appear in the production process. One week the bottleneck may be in one machine center, and the next week it is in another. These bottlenecks make it difficult to get the orders out on time. EXHIBIT 2 Sales, March 2003 EXHIBIT 1 Raw materials. Type of Material A B C D Order Size 1 2 3 4 5 8 10 15 20 25 30 40 50 100 200 400 700 1,000 Number of Orders 80 53 69 32 82 47 64 22 42 27 18 22 10 4 4 2 1 2 1 578 2002 Usage $(000) $36 10 15 43 110 18 32 75 40 60 30 53 $522 Total $ Value of Orders $ 3,200 4.250 3,163 4,800 16,392 15,987 26,871 13,172 31,555 23,682 21,600 32,000 18,693 12,500 14,068 9,652 35,600 20,000 $312,185 E F G H - K All Others Total This case was prepared as a basis for class cliscussion, not to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation 426 Easter Geur, l. 427 PHYSICAL LAYOUT AND MATERIALS FLOW Eastern Gear utilizes a standard job-shop layout, as shown in Exhibit 3. Each work center has a common set of machines or processes. The materials flow from one work center to another, depending on the operations needed for a particular order. A typical order will take the following path. First, the raw material, a gear blank, is sent to the milling work center. Here the teeth are cut into the edge of the gear according to the customer's specifications. Next, the gear blanks are sent to the drilling work center, where one or more holes may be drilled in the gear. The gear is then sent to a grinding center, where a finish is put on the gear teeth and the surface of the gear. Next, the gear may be sent to heat-treating if this operation is re- quired by the customer. After the batch of gears is completed, they are inspected by the next available worker and shipped to the customer. In Exhibit 3, note how the machines are grouped by similar type on the shop floor. For example, all drills are located together in one work center, and all milling machines are in another work center While this layout facilitates development of worker skills and training, it results in a jumbled flow of products through the shop. There is constant interference of the orders being processed in the shop. The typical order spends 90 percent of its time waiting in line for a machine to become available. Only 10 percent of the time is ac tually spent processing the order on a machine. As a result, it takes a relatively long time (four weeks) for an order to make its way through the shop. Large and small orders are processed together. No special work flow is utilized for different order sizes. As a matter of fact, large orders are helping to keep the shop at full capacity COMPANY BACKGROUND Business has been booming at Eastern Gear. For the first two years the company lost money, but over the last several months a small profit has been made. Sales are up by 100 percent in the last quarter. See Exhibit 4 for more details. Although sales are rapidly increasing, a recent market survey has indicated that sales can be ex- panded even more in the next few years. According to the market survey, sales will be $5 million in cal- endar year 2003 if the current delivery lead time of daliud EXHIBIT 3 Layout. Receiving dock Receiving and raw Milling machines materials storage B C D E F G . 10 15 43 110 18 32 75 40 60 30 53 5522 15 20 25 30 40 SO 100 22 42 27 18 22 10 4 13,172 31,555 23,682 21.600 32,000 18,693 12,500 14,058 9,652 35,600 20,000 $312,185 1 200 2 400 700 1,000 1 2 K All Others Total 1 578 This case was prepared as a basis for class discussion, not to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation 426 Fastien Gear Inc 427 PHYSICAL LAYOUT AND MATERIALS FLOW Eastern Gear utilizes a standard job-shop layout, as shown in Exhibit 3. Each work center has a common set of machines or processes. The materials flow from one work center to another, depending on the operations needed for a particular order. A typical order will take the following path. First, the raw material, a gear blank, is sent to the milling work center. Here the teeth are cut into the edge of the gear according to the customer's specifications. Next, the gear blanks are sent to the drilling work center, where one or more holes may be drilled in the gear. The gear is then sent to a grinding center, where a finish is put on the gear teeth and the surface of the gear. Next, the gear may be sent to heat treating if this operation is re- quired by the customer. After the batch of gears is completed, they are inspected by the next available worker and shipped to the customer. In Exhibit 3, note how the machines are grouped by similar type on the shop floor. For example, all drills are located together in one work center, and all milling machines are in another work center. While this layout facilitates development of worker skills and training, it results in a jumbled flow of products through the shop. There is constant interference of the orders being processed in the shop. The typical order spends 90 percent of its time waiting in line for a machine to become available. Only 10 percent of the time is ac- tually spent processing the order on a machine. As a result, it takes a relatively long time (four weeks) for an order to make its way through the shap. Large and small orders are processed together. No special work flow is utilized for different order sizes. As a matter of fact, large orders are helping to keep the shop at full capacity. COMPANY BACKGROUND Business has been booming at Eastern Gear. For the first two years the company lost money, but over the last several months a small profit has been made. Sales are up by 100 percent in the last quarter. See Exhibit 4 for more details Although sales are rapidly increasing, a recent market survey has indicated that sales can be ex- panded even more in the next few years. According to the market survey, sales will be $5 million in cal- endar year 2003 if the current delivery lead time of five to six weeks is maintained. if total delivery lead time can be reduced to the former three to four weeks, sales could be expanded to $5.5 million in stead of $5 million. Because of increased delivery lead times, the com- pany has recently added an expediter, Matt Williams. Each morning Williams reviews the work in progress in the shop and selects those orders that EXHIBIT 3 Layout Receiving clock Receiving and raw materials storage Milling machines Heat treating Finishing and grinding center Shipping and finished goods storage Tool crib Lunch room Drilling EXHIBIT 4 Financial data 2002 2000 560 2001 1500 First Quarter 2003 1063 3100 Sales Manufacturing costs Materials Labor Overhead Depreciation Total Manufacturing Costs Sales expenses G&A expense Total costs Profit belore Lax 63 136 70 172 441 70 75 586 (26) 273 587 216 390 1,474 130 110 To 1.714 (214) 522 1,063 412 422 2,419 263 297 2,979 121 214 327 140 150 831 80 93 1,004 59 *All figures in thousands of dollars. 428 Part Six Caw Studies EXHIBIT 5 Organization chart. President, Roger Rhodes o