http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1777 http://dspace.mit.edu:80/retrieve/5834 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1777 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49794 Inter-company collaboration within a large lean supply chain initiative Mentzer, Maria Ritums Cisco and its four contract manufacturing partners are collaborating to implement a lean replenishment methodology across their supply chain. The new system is expected to result in minimized inventory exposure, increased supply chain flexibility, and improved speed to customer. Implementation of such a large standardized initiative requires close collaboration within and between multiple companies which makes it even more complex. Understanding the current state of collaboration within such a large initiative will enable improvements for future inter-company initiatives. This work analyses how Cisco and Flextronics collaborate within this large joint initiative. The analysis utilizes a combination of process mapping and known frameworks for organizational and cross company collaboration analysis. In addition, a dynamic supply chain simulation addressing a particular concern within the initiative is provided. Based on this characterization recommendations for how Cisco and Flextronics can improve collaboration for future joint initiatives are made. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-95). Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49793 Evolving a global armaments logistics strategy Peck, Nathan (Nathan W.) Few companies globally source and manage commercial transportation for frequent and high volumes of explosive cargo for the U. S. Department of Defense. U.S. regulations are strict and economically competitive options are limited. The challenge is even more problematic when the company has not developed an internal capability to efficiently manage logistics transportation. Companies view logistics and supply chain management as crucial to their overall success, though most do not claim it as a core competency. Instead, companies often outsource logistics operations and management to 3rd Party Logistics and other transportation solution providers. This paper explores how a company dealing with frequent shipments of explosive, Department of Defense cargo need not fully outsource logistics operations and management. Rather this paper shows how a company can quickly and cost-effectively improve their internal logistics capability while utilizing the benefits of logistics outsourcing. It is imperative that a company evolving its logistics capability maintain flexibility yet realize the advances in the transportation outsourcing industry. This research is distinctive in that it provides a case study of an organization that utilizes global partners supplying the U.S. Government in substantial volumes and must operate within the confines of hazardous goods regulations and archaic United States Department of Defense shipping regulations. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-56). Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49792 Managing maintenance costs of pharmaceutical research and development Butts, Jared (Jared C.) Drug Discovery is a race to be the first to patent a drug that meets a significant medical need in the world. Many pharmaceutical companies are now using automation extensively to improve consistency and aid personnel in testing the millions of potential drug candidates within their labs. Because these machines play an important role in drug discovery, there is significant interest in managing their maintenance. The concern is that downtime is hampering the efforts of drug discovery. This project has sought to reduce that downtime and manage maintenance costs by working with the Technical Operations Group, Novartis' in-house maintenance team. The main objectives have been to devise a better way for evaluating maintenance contracts, improve the availability of the equipment, and instill a culture of continuous improvement in the group. This study shows that maximizing equipment utilization should be a higher priority than reducing downtime. The data show that the high throughput systems are only used an average of three days a week. Reducing downtime, which is most often measured on the scale of minutes, is unlikely to bring about the gains that would be realized by improving capacity utilization. Current metrics and data collection procedures are ineffective for determining automation needs and performance as well as engineer performance. A new system for data collection was implemented along with improvement projects as an introduction to lean principles, with the primary objective being a self-sustaining system of finding process improvements. (cont.) Contracts were evaluated along four criteria: the indispensability of the equipment under contract, the adjusted replacement cost, the level of customization, and the age of equipment. The end results of the internships include a metric gathering system that more closely monitors engineer activity as opposed to equipment activity, completed improvement projects such as the complete overhaul of the tool room including inventory management as well as an automated error log system, and a way of evaluating contracts that will reduce costs without sacrificing performance. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 66). Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49791 Identifying system-wide contact center cost reduction opportunities through lean, customer-focused IT metrics Sen, Avijit Dell's long-term success depends on its customers' future buying patterns. These patterns are largely determined by customers' satisfaction with the after-sales service they receive. Previously, Dell has been able to deliver high customer satisfaction but has done so at a high expense, further reducing the low margins on their consumer product line. Dell's Global Consumer Services and Support organization (GCSS) is constantly innovating to lower its operating costs while maintaining customer satisfaction. Their task is difficult to achieve in part because of the broad scope of problems that Dell's customer service agents (CSAs) tackle and the grey areas of support boundaries. In order to identify and correct the root-causes of these contact-center costs, Dell needs the ability to measure the specific cost of supporting individual customers. Yet, no such customer-centric data framework exists at Dell, or indeed in the contact center industry. However, it is possible to create just such a customer focused data framework by applying an automated value stream mapping (VSM) analysis to a large sample of contact-center activity data from Dell's data warehouse. The resulting data set is a collection of digital value stream maps representing the end-to-end customer service experience of each contact-center customer. After performing the proposed data transformations, these customer-focused metrics (CustFM) are shown to yield significant insights into previously unidentifiable cost reduction opportunities available across Dell's global contact-center network. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-72). Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:58:59 GMT