MT498 Unit 9 Implementation Phasing Plan Example

Three Gated Steps, One Line at a Time: An MT498 Unit 9 Implementation Phasing Plan for Lowry Filter's Ohio Site

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Purdue University Global

MT498: Bachelor's Capstone in Supply Chain Management

Unit 9 Implementation Phasing Plan

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[Date]

Lowry Filter Company, the Groveport site and every figure are composite; the sources cited are real.

Timeline

The plan runs twelve months. Months one to three fit out the Groveport building: electrical service for the pleating lines, compressed air, racking and a receiving dock for media. Phase one begins in month four, phase two in month six or seven, and phase three in month nine or ten, depending on when each gate is met. The Columbus warehouse lease is released at the end of phase three.

Why One Line at a Time

Each line move takes the line out of production for about three weeks: dismantling in Salina, trucking, reinstallation and test runs in Ohio. A line on two shifts makes about 3,360 cases a week, so covering one move requires about 10,080 cases built ahead in Salina and stored at Columbus. Moving all three lines together would require about 30,240 cases of pre-built stock, more than the Columbus warehouse can hold beside its normal inventory, and would leave no Ohio line running to learn from. Moving them singly also means the first move teaches the second: how long installation really takes, and how much scrap a new crew produces in its first weeks.

The Three Phases

Phase one moves one line and the 14 standard filter sizes with the highest eastern volume, about 38 percent of eastern cases or roughly 2,894 a week, comfortably inside the line's 3,360-case capacity. Salina continues to supply every other eastern item.

Phase two adds a second line and the next group of standard sizes, bringing Ohio to about 76 percent of eastern cases, roughly 5,788 a week, against two lines' capacity of 6,720.

Phase three adds the third line and the premium filters. Premium moves last because it depends on the safeguards from the Unit 6 seminar: 35 days of premium media on hand in Ohio and a standing Norfolk booking with the forwarder. The port lesson becomes a precondition rather than an afterthought.

A missed gate pauses the sequence; it never forces the next move.

Gates

A phase opens only when the previous phase has held three targets for four consecutive weeks: eastern fill rate at or above 96 percent on the items already moved, scrap on the Ohio lines at or below 2.5 percent, and conversion cost per case within 30 cents of the $7.87 plan. If a gate is missed, the sequence pauses, Salina keeps supplying the affected items and the team investigates before trying again. Terwiesch and Bohn (2001) found that production ramp-ups lose much of their early output to yield problems and that deliberate learning during the ramp shortens it, which is why the gates measure scrap as well as service.

People

Ohio crews are hired and trained about six weeks before their line arrives: about 14 people for phase one, 12 for phase two and 12 for phase three, 38 in all, including a site manager hired in month one. Each moved line arrives with two seasoned Salina operators, who stay a fortnight to coach the Ohio crew. The effects on Salina staffing, where three lines' crews will no longer be needed on two shifts, are listed by phase but not decided here, since those choices belong to the company and may involve transfers, attrition or the third-shift capacity the risk assessment relies on.

Cost

Phasing adds one cost the landed cost model lacked. Because the Columbus warehouse holds pre-built stock and continues serving Salina-supplied items until phase three ends, its lease must run about three months longer than the model assumed, at a cost of about $149,500. That raises the one-time total from $1,526,800 to $1,676,300 and moves payback from 2.27 years to about 2.49. The plan reports the change rather than leaving the older figure standing, and the final report will use the revised payback throughout. The total stays inside the $2 million capital ceiling. Chopra and Meindl (2016) note that network changes are judged on their total cost over the transition as well as their steady-state savings, and the overlap is part of that transition.

Risks to the Plan

Three risks could stretch the timeline. The building fit-out could run late if the utility needs longer to upgrade electrical service, which would push every phase back; the plan keeps Salina fully staffed until phase one's gate is met, so a delay costs time rather than service. Hiring in the Columbus labor market could fall short, in which case phase two waits. And the first line move could reveal installation problems that make three weeks optimistic, which is exactly why one line moves first. Simchi-Levi et al. (2008) stress that the transition between two network designs is often riskier than either design itself, and the plan treats each phase as a test before the next.

Communication With Customers

The largest home-center account will be told before phase one which items will ship from Ohio and when, so that its distribution centers can update ship-from records. Fill rate on moved items will be reported to the account weekly during each phase.

References

Chopra, S., & Meindl, P. (2016). Supply chain management: Strategy, planning, and operation (6th ed.). Pearson.

Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P., & Simchi-Levi, E. (2008). Designing and managing the supply chain: Concepts, strategies, and case studies (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Terwiesch, C., & Bohn, R. E. (2001). Learning and process improvement during production ramp-up. International Journal of Production Economics, 70(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-5273(00)00045-1