Operations Management for Competitive Advantage Essay

Operations Management for Competitive Advantage - Essay Example Amongst the numerous concepts and tools that can come under application for the problem related to the facility location and layout, centroid method came under consideration as the best applicable tool for the company Eldora (EDC) who were leading manufacturers of bicycle in the U.S. The highlighting issue of EDC illustrates the information that the manufacturing plant units did not come under relocation to other locations such as in Asian countries as this market was becoming the leader in the manufacturing industry especially due to its cheap labor. Because of a domestic strategy allied to the production of the bicycles, all the business processes of EDC remained to one location only. As an outcome of this decision, they came across several issues associated to the facility location; centroid methodology was the finest solution if adopted by EDC would resolve the concerned issue. This tool proves to be fruitful for the organization as it has numerous benefits that can aid the compa ny. The expected results of this method will lead them to reduced costs in their production due to cheap labor, having the prospect to penetrate into new market segmentation, competitive advantage over others as being present into a global marketplace. In addition, the manufacturing enterprise will also have the advantage from the environmental regulations in the local plant and will also develop and persuade the relationships with the local residents of that area, and will help in removing the cultural barriers between them and there are many more benefits that the organization can have from it. Background Information The organization that is under discussion in the thesis paper is Eldora Company (EDC), which is considerably one of the dominant, well-known and most popular businesses that manufacture and supply bicycles in the United States of America (Chase, 2006). Eldora experienced a boom in its sales and recognition in the marketplace since the last decade, as their lower price of the bicycles for a very long time gave them an edge over their competitors. With the increasing reputation, EDC became the market leader as it contributed to more than twenty-five percent of the bicycle sales of the United States. Eldora Company’s business units were located at the same site and all the operational units and the corporate office shared one roof. EDC was a huge organization with numerous employees and workers; and they have come under division according to their capabilities, areas of expertise and skills (Chase, 2006). Through the joint venture with a company based in Europe, Eldora expanded its business into the European market as well. Eldora was an organization that encouraged and promoted the viewpoints, innovative ideas, and recommendations of their employees related to the mechanism of the bicycle that provides with additional features. The loyalty and dedication of the employees towards the company can come under limelight as information and awaren ess of most modern and recent fashion and approach was the key motive of the members of the staff (Chase, 2006). The principal motivation and influencing factor for the bicycle manufacturers’ repositioning of facility location to the Asian world was that this market was experiencing a boom of bicycle producers at a phenomenal and an unprecedented rate, which allowed them to have cheaper labor in comparison coupled with low distribution costs (Chase, 2006). Problem Description One of the primary and high-priority