REGAL MARINE PRODUCT PROFILE With hundreds of competitors in the boat business. Regal Marine must work...

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REGAL MARINE PRODUCT PROFILE With hundreds of competitors in the boat business. Regal Marine must work to differentiate itself from the flock. To stay competitive, Regal continuously introduces innovative, high-quality new boats. Its differentiation strategy is reflected in a product line consisting of 22 models. To maintain this stream of innovation, and with so many boats at varying stages of their life cycles. Regal constantly seeks design input from customers, dealers and consultants. Design ideas rapidly find themselves in the styling studio, where they are placed onto CAD machines in order to speed the development process. Existing boat designs are always evolving as the company tries to stay stylish and competitive. Moreover, with life cycles as short as 3 years, a steady stream of new products is required. A few years ago, the new product was the three-passenger $11,000 Rush, a small but powerful boat capable of pulling a water-skier. This was followed with a 20 -foot inboard - outboard performance boat with so many innovations that it won prize after prize in the industry. Another new boat is a redesigned 52-foot sports yacht that sleeps six in luxury staterooms. With all these models and innovations, Regal designers and production personnel are under pressure to respond quickly. By getting key suppliers on board early and urging them to participate at the design stage. Regal improves both innovations and quality while speeding product development. Regal finds that the sooner it brings suppliers on board, the faster it can bring new boats to the markets. After a development stage that constitutes concept and styling, CAD designs yield product specifications. The first stage in actual production is the creation of the plug', a foam-based carving used to make the molds for fiberglass hulls and decks. Specifications from the CAD system drive the carving process, once the plug is carved, the permanent molds for each new hull and deck design are formed. Molds take about 4 to 8 weeks to make and are all hand made. Similar molds are made for many of the other features in Regal boats from galley and stateroom components to lavatories and steps. Finished molds can be joined and used to make thousands of boats. Source: (Heizer and Render, 2018) QUESTION 1 [30 MARKS] 1.1 With reference to Regal Marine, comment on the appropriateness of adopting the Kaizen approach within its operations and provide recommendations on how this needs to be successfully done. Make use of relevant examples. (15) 1.2 In light of the case study, examine how collaborating with suppliers has allowed Regal Marine to improve both innovations and quality while speeding up product development. Make use of relevant examples. (15) REGAL MARINE PRODUCT PROFILE With hundreds of competitors in the boat business. Regal Marine must work to differentiate itself from the flock. To stay competitive, Regal continuously introduces innovative, high-quality new boats. Its differentiation strategy is reflected in a product line consisting of 22 models. To maintain this stream of innovation, and with so many boats at varying stages of their life cycles. Regal constantly seeks design input from customers, dealers and consultants. Design ideas rapidly find themselves in the styling studio, where they are placed onto CAD machines in order to speed the development process. Existing boat designs are always evolving as the company tries to stay stylish and competitive. Moreover, with life cycles as short as 3 years, a steady stream of new products is required. A few years ago, the new product was the three-passenger $11,000 Rush, a small but powerful boat capable of pulling a water-skier. This was followed with a 20 -foot inboard - outboard performance boat with so many innovations that it won prize after prize in the industry. Another new boat is a redesigned 52-foot sports yacht that sleeps six in luxury staterooms. With all these models and innovations, Regal designers and production personnel are under pressure to respond quickly. By getting key suppliers on board early and urging them to participate at the design stage. Regal improves both innovations and quality while speeding product development. Regal finds that the sooner it brings suppliers on board, the faster it can bring new boats to the markets. After a development stage that constitutes concept and styling, CAD designs yield product specifications. The first stage in actual production is the creation of the plug', a foam-based carving used to make the molds for fiberglass hulls and decks. Specifications from the CAD system drive the carving process, once the plug is carved, the permanent molds for each new hull and deck design are formed. Molds take about 4 to 8 weeks to make and are all hand made. Similar molds are made for many of the other features in Regal boats from galley and stateroom components to lavatories and steps. Finished molds can be joined and used to make thousands of boats. Source: (Heizer and Render, 2018) QUESTION 1 [30 MARKS] 1.1 With reference to Regal Marine, comment on the appropriateness of adopting the Kaizen approach within its operations and provide recommendations on how this needs to be successfully done. Make use of relevant examples. (15) 1.2 In light of the case study, examine how collaborating with suppliers has allowed Regal Marine to improve both innovations and quality while speeding up product development. Make use of relevant examples. (15)