NEED only Question number 4 most important with reference. Thanks in advance.

Muestions 1. Why should operations management be important to CDS? (4 marks) 2. What did CEO Thompson mean by the statement from being an inward-looking manufacturer, we became a customer-focused design and make' operation" Which aspect(s) of operations management can help an organization achieve this? (8 marks) 3. Discuss the concept of 'line balancing' with respect to Sandra White's statement that "we try to stick to a preferred production sequence for each machine and mould so as to minimize set-up times by starting on a light colour and progressing through a sequence to the darkest" (6 marks) 4. What four suggestions would you recommend to the company if you were asked to advise CDS on improving its operations? Please explain your suggestions in the context of CDS and what improvement (especially areas) they can bring. (12 marks) DESIGN HOUSE PARTNERSHIP AT CONCEPT DESIGN SERVICES I believe how much we have changed in a relatively short time. From being an inward-looking manufacturer, we became a customer-focused design and make operation. Now we are an integrated service provider. Most of our new business comes from the partnerships we have formed with design houses in effect, we design products jointly with specialist design houses that have a well known brand and offer them a complete service of manufacturing and distribution. In many ways we are now a 'business-to-business company rather than a 'business-to-consumer company." (Jim Thompson, CEO, Concept Design Services (CDS)) CDS had become one of Europe's most profitable homeware businesses. Founded in the 1960s, the company had moved from making industrial mouldings, mainly in the aerospace sector, and some cheap 'homeware items such as buckets and dustpans, sold under the "Focus" brand name, to making very high-quality expensive) stylish homewares with a high design value'. The move into Concept' products The move into higher-margin homeware had been masterminded by Linda Fleet, CDS's Marketing Director, who had previously worked for a large chain of paint and wallpaper retailers. Experience in the decorative products industry had taught me the importance of fashion and product development, even in mundane products such as paint. Premium-priced colours and new textures would become popular for one or two years, supported by appropriate promotion and features in lifestyle magazines. The manufacturers and retailers who created and supported these products were dramatically more profitable than those who simply provided standard ranges. Instinctively, I felt that this must also apply to homeware. We decided to develop a whole coordinated range of such items and to open up a new distribution network for them to serve up-market stores, kitchen equipment and specialty retailers. Within a year of launching our first new range of kitchen homeware under the 'Concept brand name, we had over 3.000 retail outlets signed up, provided with point-of-sale display facilities. Press coverage generated an enormous interest which was reinforced by the product placement on several TV cookery and 'life style programmes. We soon developed an entirely new market and within two years 'Concept products were providing over 75 per cent of our revenue and 90 per cent of our profits. The price realisation of Concept products is many times higher than for the Focus range. To keep ahead we launched new ranges at regular intervals.' The move to the design house partnerships Over the last four years, CDS has been designing, manufacturing and distributing products for some of the more prestigious design houses. This sort of business is likely to grow, especially in Europe where the design houses appreciate our ability to offer a full service. We can design products in conjunction with their own design staff and offer them a level of manufacturing expertise they can't get elsewhere. More significantly, we can offer a distribution service which is tailored to their needs. From the customer's point of view the distribution arrangements appear to belong to the design house itself. In fact, they are based exclusively on our own call centre, warehouse and distribution resources.' 2