Read the case study and answer the following questions: 1. Descrbe and explain briefly the operating environment of a glant autcmotive company and the purposes of inventory within this environment. 2. Describe the JIT and just-in-case concepts of manufacturing imentory management. 3. What problems are associated with the application of the JIT concept at General Motors? Is JIT a practical approach for General Motors? Case Study: Missing Link Excess capachy, foreign competition, and national recession have forced automotive giant General Molors (CM) to tighten its belt and to engage in broad restructuring with no end in sight. As a consequence, thousands of General Motors employees and thousands more of its suppliers' employees have lost theif jobs. To make matters worse for auloworkers, GM has recently announced a radical step regarding parts acquistons all GM purchase contracts for components. are open for negotation. What makes this even scarier foc auto workers is that notfication of this shft in policy went to GMs own parts operations. This means that all suppliers, including GMs captive unts, must cleanly compete on the same terms. Thus, GM workers fear the loss of many more jobs to outside (especally foreign) sources Aready focing GMs plan to close its tool-and-die shop and lay off 250 employees, disgrunted workers at the Godstown stamping plant reacted to the news about parts contracts with a stike. Feeling their efforts to help cut costs and improve efficiency had brought them not drect besefits, all 2500 union members at the Godstown plant walked. The wokers were prepared to concede earier job losses, but their persistent anger against cutside sources has made the most recent plans intolerable. Expecting that matters will only worsen it they continue to concede, the wotkers are prepared to show they soll have clout Within the current scope of OMs cperations, the Godstown workers are appasently nght. Twenty-five hundred Godstown wockers may have walked, but aimost 43.000 workers are ief idle. Due to shortages of hey parts manulactured at Codstown. the impoct of the strke has aready spread to nine of the tweive oM plants that Codstown serves. The Jupiter plant, manulacturet of OMs bets-seling new model, shut down only one day after the Godstomn strike started. Eight other GM plants (Which buld vans, compacts, and huxury cars) did not iast a week. The impact has been so quick due to OM Jit inventory management in which plants keep only enough parts on hand to meet immediale production needs General Motors looks yulnerable to the elfects of the strike The company retuses to bock away from ias restructuring pians, but realizes at some point it must restart opecatons its Jupiter plant has a heavy bacilog of onders, and company-wide athertax losses trom the strke are estimated at $50 milion a week The crppling effects of the strike aye reopening many issues which have troubled GMs broad costcutting program. The Godstomn strike is forcing GM to reexamine all the links in its chan